LATEST FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DATA

YIELD "ENERGY SCORECARD"

FOR OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S FIRST TERM

 

COAL, NUCLEAR, OIL IMPORTS, ENERGY USE

AND CO2 EMISSIONS ALL DROP

 

RENEWABLES & NATURAL GAS EXPAND;

WIND AND SOLAR MORE THAN DOUBLE

 

For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 28, 2013 

 

Contact:  Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.11

 

Washington DC – According to the most recent issue of the "Monthly Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), with data through December 31, 2012, renewable energy sources and natural gas expanded rapidly during the Obama Administration's first term while coal, nuclear power, oil imports and use, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions all declined significantly.

 

Comparing data for 2008 (last year of the Bush Administration) to data for 2012 (last year of the Obama Administration's first term), domestic energy production from renewable energy sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind) grew by 23.48% with wind and solar more than doubling their output.

 

By comparison, total domestic energy production from all sources increased by just 8.15% with domestic natural gas and crude oil production growing by 18.71% and 29.47% respectively. Moreover, during the same period, nuclear power output declined by 4.47% and domestic coal production dropped by 13.28%.  Total energy use  declined by 4.16%, petroleum consumption decreased by 6.95%, CO2 emissions dropped by 9.38%, and imports of crude oil and petroleum products fell by 17.32%.

 

Looking at all energy sectors (e.g., electricity, transportation, thermal), renewable energy sources accounted for 11.23% of domestic energy production in 2012 – compared to 9.84% in 2008. In fact, renewable energy sources provided 10.47% more energy in 2012 than did nuclear power, although nuclear still provides a larger share of the nation’s electricity (18.97% vs. 12.22%). (On the consumption side, which includes oil and other energy imports, renewable sources accounted for 9.30% of total U.S. energy use during 2012, compared to 7.24% in 2008.)

 

During the first four years of the Obama Administration, hydropower production grew by 7.01%, geothermal by 18.23%, biofuels by 40.66%, solar by 138.20%, and wind by 149.27%. Only biomass dipped - by 0.89%. Hydropower accounted for 30.21% of domestic energy production from renewable sources in 2012, followed by biomass (27.61%), biofuels (21.94%), wind (15.30%), geothermal (2.55%), and solar (2.39%). These figures may not fully reflect the total contribution from renewable energy sources inasmuch as EIA data does not totally account for distributed, non-grid connected applications.**

 

 “The numbers speak for themselves - notwithstanding politically-inspired criticism, the energy policies pioneered by the Obama Administration have generated dramatic growth rates for renewable energy during the past four years, while significantly reducing oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “The investments in sustainable energy made by the federal government as well as state officials and private funders have paid off handsomely underscoring the short-sightedness of seemingly endless proposals to slash or discontinue such support.”

 

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** "These additions understate actual solar capacity gains. Unlike other energy sources, significant levels of solar capacity exist in smaller, non-utility-scale applications - e.g., rooftop solar photovoltaics." (EIA, August 20, 2012 - http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=7610)

 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent "Monthly Energy Review" on March 27, 2013.  It can be found at http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly. The relevant charts from which the data above are extrapolated are Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4a, 10.1 and 12.1. 

 

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The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1993 to promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.