Why The Global Economy Is Growing But CO2 Emissions Aren’t (First Time In Forty Years)

Good news! For the first time the world economy has grown but CO2 emissions didn't increase. How did we manage this?

So what changed?

The IEA reports that there were several factors involved — China shifting more to renewables, even as OECD countries also advanced renewable energy and combined that with more energy efficiency.

Certainly, that’s been the story in the U.S. electricity industry of late. “For the first time demand is untethered to GDP,” said Alex Laskey, the president of Opower, which works with utility companies to help them connect with customers. “And that’s because of efficiency, self generation, and so on….we can make do with less.”

W ashington Post


Okay so let's not be delusional... The amount of extra heat we've gained so far and will continue to gain from existing levels of greenhouse gases and what will come from thaw is still going to be a lot with chaotic weather patterns as a result.

But this is huge! It is proof we can do this, we can get ourselves in check without plummeting into world wide poverty. Now let's see if we can lower our emissions year by year while maintaining economic growth.

I feel some optimism for the first time in a long... long time about our climate.

Well the weather has been suppressed to help corporations pollute more and feed the nay-Sayers about global warming. Sheeple. There are many projects gov and otherwise to keep weather in check. HAARP in which the gov admitted to when they shut down the one in Alaska. The gen said in a response to why it was shut down " we have better now " Plus cloud seeding ect.

www.weathermodification.com...

Sounds like a "report" to help people "accept" the coming economic impacts of the new U.S. EPA regulations.

Not seeing any real details supporting anything being claimed however.

a reply to: Kali74
Hopefully renewable technology will continue to improve and actually have emissions drop. If we can prevent the climate from getting any worse that would be a great start.

GDP and statics coupled with the growing spread between the 1% and the 99% probably has more to do with it then any good decisions made by Govt. or consumers . Just reading a interesting piece ," The Decline and Fall of the American State; Enjoy It" www.informationclearinghouse.info...

"Whaaa? The poll, taken in 2014, looked at consumer and investor faith in the "product", i.e. the president, judiciary, legislative as well as mainstream media, banks, big business, organized labor, organized religion, education, medicine and the scientific community."

The author says "The poll designers were either extremely naive or extremely perspicacious. They have cogently asked how we like our fascism, sunny side up or easy over? Not surprising, the people indicated they'd prefer to skip breakfast, due to a growing queasiness in the pit of their stomachs, and a sense that something is going to fall on our heads." hard not to have that feeling with what is on the 24/7 feed from our MSM eh ?

"The poll indicates that we are disgusted by government media, government legislation and 15 straight years of diktatcracy. We have no faith in the justice system and organized religion, and our discontent with the corporate state of big business, big medicine, big education, and big science is seething. All good signs of course, that change is coming. Our identity as "US Citizen" is becoming something we'd rather not talk about. This is how all empires collapse, and the one led by Washington, D.C. is not special. Unlike all the children in Lake Wobegone, we are beginning to recognize our child in D.C. is not above average or exceptional; rather he is a pretty nasty devil who is never going to make something of himself."

The piece should be read in full to appreciate the full context and creative style to express what may be really causing a shift .China is basically starting to invest the many old $$ it gained by dirty coal but they want clean air and water as well so the new hegemon will invest in a bigger project the the US ever did .imo

"Who knows for sure? What we can conclude from the Drudge headlines -- today and any other day, is that Washington, D.C. -- the whole of mess of dictatorial money-printing, warmongering, bread and circuses madness -- is building palatial barges on Lake Nemi, ships designed for government excess and partying, sex rings, drugs, vanity and murder, and these ships don't sail. The lasting contribution of these barges, like much of what our federal government has constructed in the late 20th and 21st century, survives only as a symbol of a hated all-consuming state. Like the Lake Nemi barges, the fanciful and frightening creations of Washington, D.C. will be sunk, destroyed, and shattered sooner than anyone expected."

Who cares is Co2 emissions aren't growing...I can talk to you about something else that not growing as much anymore.
Mother F****in trees, that's what!!

And we all know what changes Co2 into oxygen, trees.

I rest my case.

a reply to: Kali74

*High five!

Saw this yesterday and it was indeed very welcome news (albeit surprising to come so soon).

The idea that we can decouple our emissions from economic growth really is the crux of the whole issue, and why there is so much fierce denial from the free market think tank stooges who prattle on about how we “have to go back to the stone age”.

I’m approaching this news with cautious optimism as it is still of course only one year - although there are smaller scale examples of it already working longer on regional levels, like in British Columbia, where the now 7 year old carbon tax has reduced emissions while their economy has even slightly outpaced the rest of Canada.

The other reason for the cautious part is because CO2 emissions are still only part of the full sustainability equation – water management, forestry, etc – so we can’t just hang our hats on one thing and lose sight of the bigger picture, but it’s definitely a very big and very exciting step in the right direction.

originally posted by: theMediator
Who cares is Co2 emissions aren't growing...I can talk to you about something else that not growing as much anymore.
Mother F****in trees, that's what!!

And we all know what changes Co2 into oxygen, trees.

I rest my case.

Maybe you should reopen your case.

More trees than there were 100 years ago? It's true!

a reply to: mc_squared

Absolutely

a reply to: greencmp

I read it. It says there are more trees IN AMERICA than there were 100 years ago. How about in Brazil?