United States cutting green house gases better than Europe

Despite constant criticism from environmental activists in the U.S. and across Europe claiming the U.S. government is doing nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, new evidence suggests America's efforts are more effective than Europe's. According to H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), the United States has spent more on research and technologies to reduce climate change than any other country, and its business-led efforts are paying off.

"The United States is doing a far better job reigning in its emission than Europe, even though it has a faster-growing economy and population," says Burnett." Rather than signing treaties that look good on paper but do nothing to really bring about reductions, U.S. industry has taken the lead as a business matter, reducing emissions as a matter of efficiency – saving costs and improving the bottom line."

According to data from the United Nations:

America's rate of growth in CO2 emissions from 2000 to 2004 was 8 percentage points lower than from 1995 to 2000.

By comparison, the original 15 European Union nations saw an increase of 2.3 percentage points.

From 2000 to 2004, EU-15 emissions grew at nearly double the U.S. rate.

During the same time, the U.S. economy grew by almost $1.9 trillion, the equivalent of adding Italy to the U.S. economy.

Further, the U.S. population increased by 11.3 million people, adding more than the population of Greece.

"U.S. businesses are succeeding where European bureaucracy is failing," says Burnett. "Further, efforts like the Asian-Pacific partnership will do far more than Kyoto to have a lasting effect on greenhouse gas emissions."

Source: NCPA: U.S. cutting greenhouse gases better than Europe, ReliablPlant.com, Jan./Feb. 2007.

For text: http://www.reliableplant.com/article.asp?pagetitle=NCPA:%20U.S.%20cutting%20greenhouse%20gases%20better%20than%20Europe&articleid=4889

For more on Global Warming/Impacts and Responses: http://eteam.ncpa.org/issues/?c=impacts-and-responses

For more on Global Warming: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=32

FMF Policy Bulletin/ 27 February 2007