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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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Figure 7-2<br />

Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Type and Sector in 2014<br />

Commercial & Residential<br />

12%<br />

Nitrous<br />

Oxide<br />

5%<br />

Fluorinated Gases<br />

3%<br />

Agriculture<br />

9%<br />

Industry<br />

21%<br />

Methane<br />

10%<br />

Electricity<br />

30%<br />

Transportation<br />

26%<br />

Carbon<br />

Dioxide<br />

82%<br />

Source: Environmental Protection Agency.<br />

responding to its effects. Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States<br />

amounted to 6,870 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2014<br />

(the most recent inventory), and these emissions are spread over several<br />

sectors, as shown in the left chart of Figure 7-2.11 In 2014, carbon dioxide<br />

emissions made up 82 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions; methane,<br />

10 percent; nitrous oxides, 5 percent; and fluorinated gases, 3 percent (right<br />

chart of Figure 7-2) (EPA 2016a). The electricity sector in 2014 generated the<br />

largest share of emissions—nearly a third—which together with the fact that<br />

some of the least-expensive marginal emissions reductions opportunities are<br />

in the power sector (Kaufman, Obeiter and Krause 2016) motivate the Clean<br />

Power Plan and clean energy investments (discussed below). Transportation<br />

follows with 26 percent of emissions, motivating a variety of efficiency and<br />

innovation policies in the transportation sector.12<br />

The Administration’s steps to address greenhouse gases cover nearly<br />

all sectors and gases. These steps help reduce emissions both now and in the<br />

longer term by promoting low-carbon electricity generation, dramatically<br />

improving energy efficiency for many products, facilitating the transition<br />

to a cleaner transportation system, reducing emissions of high-potency<br />

greenhouse gases, and bolstering our land-sector sink (the capacity of land<br />

11 These are gross greenhouse gas emissions. Note that the Administration’s multi-year GHG<br />

reduction targets are based on GHG emissions, net of carbon sinks.<br />

12 The most recent EPA GHG annual inventory is from 2014. In March 2016, the rolling<br />

12-month average emissions estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration<br />

suggested that transportation emissions had exceeded those from electric power generation for<br />

the first time since 1979.<br />

Addressing Climate Change | 433

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