Just as sure as the sun rises in the east, and just as sure as the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano every spring, it used to be that as America’s economy grew, so too did its greenhouse gas emissions.
That has started to change, driven partly by a shift to renewable energy. It happened again last year, when emissions fell an estimated 1.9 percent even as GDP boomed, according to a new analysis from the Rhodium Group.
It may still come as cold comfort to environmentalists like Rep. Mike Levin: 2023 was also the hottest year on record, and a year that saw U.S. fossil fuel production hit record highs. “I don’t think we’re going to hit our climate goals, nor are we going to have a positive economic outcome over the long term, if we just double down on fossil fuels,” the California Democrat said.
