A recent federal policy shift toward the increased use of fossil fuels, including coal, and away from renewable sources of power, could have implications for recent declines in emissions in the U.S., particularly as Congress works to codify many of the new energy priorities of the Trump administration.
An analysis released last week by the Energy Information Administration showed a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions across the U.S. since 2005, driven primarily by the decreasing use of coal across the electric power sector. From 2005 to 2023, EIA said, per capita emissions fell in every U.S. state and energy-related emissions decreased 20 percent nationwide.
But EIA reported in late July that coal’s decline would “temporarily reverse” in 2025 because of “rising electricity demand and coal’s increasing competitiveness in the electric power sector,” which accounts for most coal’s use across the country. Partly as a result of increased use of fossil fuels, EIA said in its short-term outlook, the U.S. is forecast to experience a 1 percent increase in total emissions this year.
