I have not seen compiled stats for 2005 yet but total highway mileage has been increasing by 1.0 to 2.5% per year for the last 4 years. If this happened again and the transportation related CO2 increase is only 0.2% that is not bad for a start.

Safety and OBD mandates seemed to have an impact in fuel economy from the sudden drop in passenger vehicle fuel economy during the early 90s (when airbags became standard, OBD-I started to restrict emissions more closely, and ABS was starting to gain popularity along with increasing the weight & structurally rigidity of vehicles).

Well it helps that alot of risk taking thrill seeking young men are in iraq here its alot safer then here... Someone did a study that of course got lost and burried that stated a young man was safer in iraq then on the road here.

We could see another drop in car fatalities due to the widespread introduction side curtain airbags (this also provides a revenue boost to airbag manufacturers).
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___Car pooling and better efficiency out of US intermodal system may do something to the usage of the transport sector.
_Better and cheaper insulation, rooftop/facade electric/thermal solar, geothermal cooling/heating, and better use/design of blinds/ eaves will cut down on commercial/residental use.
_As for the industrial sector, increased use/capture of waste heat with productivity/efficiency gains would be smaller, but no less significant.
_The electrical energy producers can push their plants from ~38% industry wide to ~60% efficiency with existing technology (combined cycle gas turbine/steam) that will come down in price in the next 10 years. Cogeneration of hydrogen (via high temperture hydrolysis), heat, and steam otherwise dumped would also cut fossil fuel usage. _If a paper/wood/fiber product plant was willing to be a neighbor to a nuke plant, with lots of heat being thrown off no matter what, it could use the waste heat too. The hot water/steam would be pumped to the production facility via a heat exchanger, with the liquid not radioactive. Thus one or two stages from the reactor, with multiple valves and multiple opportunities to cut off the pllants from each other if something goes wrong. This, of course, would be for events that are contained inside the Nuke plant; a full fledged meltdown would be.....more problematic, to say the least.

I think a key piece of inforamtion that American society can take form this news is that, contrary to popular belief, reduction in CO2 WILL NOT have any signifcant impact on economic growth. This report is critical to putting the "nail in the coffin" of those who claim that reducing our CO2 levels, or even joining Kyoto will have such a deleterious effect on out economy we just can't consider it. Furthermore, this data seems to show that fairly small factors in our economy can have a significant impact in CO2 pollution. Imagine what the effect of a $0.50 per gallon sales tax on gasoline may have on C02 levels. I'm not saying that this is the best way to go, but it would have a significant impact on total nationwide CO2 generation.

Everyone who argues that we need to reduce our GHG emmisions should memorize this report when arguing with someone who beleives the opposite.

Peace,
Cosmo

I fully agree with Cosmo. The idea that reducing CO2/GHG would be a disaster for the economy is strictly a GWB and Oil Lobbies propaganda and is far from the truth.

Many countries have reduced GHG while maintaining a vigorous economy.

Using more locally built hybrids, PHEVs and EVs fed with cleaner alternative fuels, Sun and Wind electrical energy would be a major boost for the local economy while reducing GHG, Oil imports and trade deficits.

I think a key piece of inforamtion that American society can take form this news is that, contrary to popular belief, reduction in CO2 WILL NOT have any signifcant impact on economic growth.

A key part of this is that this is happening without being a Kyoto signatory, and purely because of market forces with rising fuel prices. No additional taxes or mandated emissions restrictions needed.

We wont stop climate change we wont reverse it. We will slow and eventualy stop global warming.

Because of the way climate works we were always going to be far too late to stop a nasty climate change AND in fact it was garenateed a NATURAL climate change was going to happen anyway.

And we are far too puny to force the climate back.. Once it completes its change the natural forces keeping the change in place will be many orders of magnetude more powerful then man will ever be in our lifetime.