The main source of U.S. emissions reduction is
electricity generation.
Graph showing the CO2 emissions from various energy sectors in the U.S. from 2000 through 2020. Emissions fell in the electricity sector, but remained fairly flat in other sectors.
Provenance: Underlying graph from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, with modifications by Karin Kirk
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.
Over time, each of the other sectors has remained fairly flat, aside from a dip in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Use the graph below to see how emissions from different sources of energy have either increased or decreased over time.
Graph showing the CO2 emissions from various energy sources in the U.S. from 1975 through 2020.
Provenance: Underlying graph from the US Energy Information Administration, with modifications by Karin Kirk
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.
The main reason the U.S. has decreased emissions is because of a reduction in coal burning.
Note that this graph shows emissions from all energy sectors, not just electricity generation.
Sources:
U.S. Emissions, from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
U.S. Energy Information Administration, energy data from the Monthly Energy Review (updated every month)
Data for emissions from the June 2021 version of EIA's Monthly Energy Review