WRI: Midwest Greenhouse Gas Data Highlights Opportunities, Risks for Climate Change Policies
December 19, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The World Resources Institute (WRI) released Charting the Midwest: An Inventory and Analysis of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions in America's Heartland, the first comparable data on GHG emissions among Midwestern states that gives this critical U.S. region a tool to set priorities and policies on climate change.
As more Midwest state governments begin to address climate change, they need consistent, comparable data on where GHGs are coming from, and which socioeconomic factors, such as population dynamics and economic output, are driving them, experts said.
To meet this demand, the report provides recent information and historical trends of GHG emissions in eight Midwest states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. It also provides analysis of critical economic sectors in each state and their relative contributions to global warming pollution.
The data and perspective on each state's emissions will help public officials, business representatives, advocates and citizens better understand the region's role in climate change. Experts said it will also inform the design of state and regional responses.
"To solve any problem, you first need to understand its scope and causes," said John Larsen, WRI research associate and co-author of the report. "It is clear that whatever path the states in the Midwest choose to take in addressing climate change, the design of policies on a state and regional level requires a good understanding of the region's emissions profile."
The WRI report breaks down key regional findings, important economic sector findings and GHG details particular to each state, including:
- If the Midwest were its own country, it would rank fifth in GHG emissions, behind the U.S., Russia, China and India.
- The Midwest accounts for nearly 25% of the U.S. emissions and 5% of world emissions.
- Among the sector findings, the report isolates electricity, transportation, industry and agriculture as the largest contributors to the Midwest's total emissions.
- In sections for each state, data on total emissions, emissions trends, per capita emissions and emissions as a percentage of the total U.S. contribution are included.
Released in cooperation with the Lake Michigan Air Director's Consortium (LADCO), the report complements a recent paper issued by WRI that identified characteristics of state policies that have historically influenced federal policies. Climate Policy in the State Laboratories was released in September and emphasized the importance of timely state action, as well as the dissemination of analyses and data to guide federal decision-making.
WRI compiled the data in its report from its Climate Analysis Indicators Tool - U.S. (CAIT-U.S.), covering the years 1990-2003, which uses the most recent and comprehensive emissions data available.
Source: World Resources Institute (WRI).