After falling for three years, carbon emissions in the United States rose in 2018. That information is based on early estimates from an independent research group. The Rhodium Group studies U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas linked to rising temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere. Its new report estimates that the country’s carbon emissions increased 3.4 percent last year. This would be the largest yearly increase since 2010, when the nation was recovering from a financial crisis known as the Great Recession. The research also suggests that the American coal industry continues to struggle because of low-cost, plentiful natural gas. The Rhodium Group reports that coal-fired power stations that produced a total of 11.2 gigawatts of power had closed by last October. Even more were expected to have closed over the following months. If confirmed, that would make 2018 the biggest coal plant closure year on record.
