Carbon dioxide releases up 7% from 1990-2004
By Bob Downing - Beacon Journal staff writer
Emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas key to
global warming, grew by 7 percent in Ohio
from 1990 to 2004, and the state ranked fourth overall in the emissions, which
were mostly from coal-burning power plants and vehicles.
That information is contained in a report
released Thursday by Environment Ohio, a citizen-based advocacy group.
Ohio ranked behind Texas,
California and Pennsylvania, with 261.8 million metric tons
of total carbon dioxide releases in 2004, according to data from the U.S. Department
of Energy. The state's 1990 total was 244.9 million metric tons.
In 2004, Ohio was No. 2 for releases of carbon
dioxide from coal-burning power plants, with 121.5 million metric tons. Only Texas produced more.
For carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, Ohio ranked sixth in
2004, with 69.7 million metric tons. The state trailed California,
Texas, Florida,
New York and Pennsylvania.
At present, there are no federal limits on
carbon dioxide releases.
``Given the risks from global warming, it's
incredibly irresponsible for Ohio
to continue driving this problem,'' said Amy Gomberg of Environment Ohio.
``This report is a wake-up call to cap pollution levels now before it is too
late.''
She said the United States could reduce its
carbon dioxide emissions by using technologies to make power plants,
businesses, homes and cars more energy-efficient and by increasing the use of
nonpolluting renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power.
The release of the report, The Carbon Boom
by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, comes less than a week after
the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a
warning on global warming.
The panel warned that the United States faces likely
widespread droughts, flooding from severe storms, killer heat waves, forest
fires, coastal flooding, increased air pollution and major changes to
agriculture.
Environment Ohio called on the state's congressional
delegation to back the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act in the Senate and
the Safe Climate Act in the House of Representatives. These bills would freeze U.S. global
warming emissions in 2010 and reduce emissions by 15 percent by 2020 and by 80
percent by 2050.
