U.S. Emissions Target Faces Setback as Energy Demand Increases in 2024

In 2024, the United States struggled to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which only decreased by 0.2%, as demand for electricity surged and reliance on natural gas increased, complicating efforts to meet climate targets.

As America faced a rise in electricity consumption, the goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions met a critical hurdle in 2024. According to estimates from the Rhodium Group released on January 9, emissions dropped a mere 0.2 percent compared to the previous year, largely due to soaring energy demand across the nation.

Despite continued investments in wind and solar energy, these renewable sources fell short of meeting the surging demand, prompting an increase in the use of natural gas for electricity generation. This situation has raised concerns regarding the nation's ability to fulfill President Biden's ambitious climate objective of halving emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Scientists universally agree that substantial emission cuts are necessary this decade for maintaining manageable global warming levels.

Since 2005, the U.S. has successfully reduced emissions by approximately 20 percent amidst economic growth; however, the recent trajectory indicates that achieving the required reduction rate moving forward may be increasingly unattainable. Experts warn that U.S. emissions would need to decline nearly ten times faster each year compared to the last decade, a feat that seems less feasible now with President-elect Donald J. Trump vowing to dismantle current climate policies in favor of fossil fuel production.

Ben King, an associate director at the Rhodium Group, stated, “On the one hand, it is notable that we’ve now seen two years in a row where the U.S. economy grew but emissions went down. But it’s far from enough to achieve our climate targets.” The ongoing trend in electricity generation, dominated by natural gas, emphasizes the urgency of reassessing strategies to mitigate environmental impacts and invest in sustainable energy solutions before it is too late.