Direct emissions from residential and commercial buildings increased by an estimated 10 percent in 2018 to their highest level since 2004.
Credit: Jeffery Neckel / EyeEm / Getty

Carbon emissions in the U.S. experienced a sharp upswing in 2018, despite a record number of coal-fired power plant closings, according to new data. (emphasis added) An analysis released by the research firm Rhodium Group Tuesday shows that emissions rose by 3.4 percent last year—the second-largest gain in more than twenty years.

The analysis also found that emissions from industrial manufacturing rose 5.7 percent, while transportation emissions rose 1 percent. The analysis describes these as industries “most often ignored in clean energy and climate policymaking” and significant drivers in the increase. “The big takeaway for me is that we haven’t yet successfully decoupled U.S. emissions growth from economic growth,” Rhodium analyst Trevor Houser told The New York Times.

As reported by The Washington Post:

“The latest growth makes it increasingly unlikely that the United States will achieve a pledge made by the Obama administration in […]