The U.S. DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) says CO2 “emissions from energy use” in the United States “fell by 2.4 percent in 2011 despite recovering economic growth. The agency says “the decrease in US. emissions was accompanied by 1.8 percent GDP growth, along with a 0.7 percent increase in energy use by the industrial sector.” EIA attributes the decline to our national economy “becoming less carbon intensive”.

As we reported in a previous post about our own customers using their energy more efficiently, it appears this is a nation wide trend. The 2011 data is another indication that, given time, energy efficiency can have a powerful impact on reducing carbon emissions in an affordable manner for consumers.