2005 Air Pollution Fossil Fuels 
Union of Concerned Scientists
JULY 1, 2024
To adjust the focus of this picture a little closer, just our passenger cars and light trucks contribute to a whopping 58 percent of total transportation emissions, placing our car-centric society in the fossil fuel spotlight. Petroleum has accounted for more than 90 percent of transportation energy in the last 50 years.
Union of Concerned Scientists
NOVEMBER 16, 2023
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the United States voluntarily pledged to reduce its global warming emissions at least 50 percent below their 2005 levels by the end of this decade and reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050. It also will save US consumers money because they will spend less on fossil fuels.
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Union of Concerned Scientists
JULY 22, 2022
Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Minnesota’s current goal is to reduce statewide carbon emissions 30 percent by 2025 compared to 2005 levels and 80 percent by 2050.
Union of Concerned Scientists
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024
While some who drive past these refineries don’t have to live near them or work in them, those who do can be harmed by the well-documented effects of refinery pollution on human health. The fossil fuel industry has systematically contaminated our environment with a wide range of toxic chemicals for over a century.
Union of Concerned Scientists
SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
Despite adding six million more passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs to the roads over the last 10 years, California’s gasoline consumption has dropped over two billion gallons from its peak in 2005. Switching from fossil fuels like gasoline to increasingly clean electricity sources is vital for hitting climate and air pollution goals.
Union of Concerned Scientists
JANUARY 30, 2023
The state-specific fact sheet, On the Road to 100 Percent Renewables for Minnesota , outlines how it could meet its electricity needs completely and equitably with renewable energy by 2035 and dramatically reduce fossil fuel use in vehicles and buildings.
Union of Concerned Scientists
JULY 29, 2022
Over the past year, precisely as our ability to identify the specific magnitude of action required to hit 2030 climate targets of 50-52 percent below 2005 levels has resolved into ever clearer view, the range of viable pathways for meeting those targets has consistently and considerably narrowed. No pivoting, just pivotal.
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