Reuters, 3 December 2009 - Man-made U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell last year as record oil prices and a weak economy reduced demand for fossil fuels, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.

Output of the gases scientists blame for warming the planet fell 2.2 percent in 2008 from the prior year to 7,053 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, the EIA said.

Since 1990, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, have increased at an average annual rate of 0.7 percent, the agency said.

Emissions of energy-related carbon dioxide decreased by 2.9 percent in 2008, having risen at an average annual rate of 1.0 percent per year from 1990 to 2007.

The EIA predicted in October that 2009 CO2 emissions should fall 5.9 percent as the recession cut demand for coal and motor fuel.

The United States is the top greenhouse gas polluter after China, but has emitted more of the gases since the Industrial Revolution than any other country.

(Reporting by Tom Doggett and Timothy Gardner)

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