This week, the Obama administration announced a plan to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by requiring them to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent, by 2005 levels, by 2030.
The plan also requires a shift away from coal-fired electricity, toward renewable energy, to put the United States in a stronger negotiating position at international talks scheduled for Paris later this year about curbing global warming.
Obama is enacting the Clean Power Plan by executive order, bypassing a Congress that has rejected efforts to cut carbon dioxide pollution. The regulations face certain challenges in court.
This graphic from the World Resources Institute shows how carbon dioxide emissions have changed over the last 150 years. It’s based on data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the institute’s Climate Analysis Indicators Tool. Check it out by moving the years along or clicking on “loop.”