MISSING CONTEXT: US achieved best carbon emission numbers under Trump

At a glance:

• Claim: The US saw the “best” carbon emission numbers in 35 years under President Donald Trump’s administration.
• Rating: MISSING CONTEXT
• The facts: US carbon emissions did decline during the Trump administration, but they were already declining since 2015. Trump has also been rolling back Obama-era climate policies that could negatively affect the country’s carbon emissions in the coming years.
• Why we fact checked this: US President Donald Trump made this claim during the 3rd US presidential debate.

Complete details:

The US supposedly saw the “best” carbon emission numbers in 35 years under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Trump made this claim during the 3rd 2020 US presidential debate on Friday, October 23 (Philippine time).

In response to a question on how he plans on combatting climate change and support job growth, he said: “We have the best, lowest number in carbon emissions, which is a big standard that I noticed Obama goes with all the time…and we have the best carbon emission numbers that we’ve had in 35 years under this administration. We are working so well with industry.”

This lacks context.

US carbon emissions did decline during the Trump administration, but they were already declining since 2015. Trump has also been rolling back Obama-era climate policies that experts say could negatively affect the country’s carbon emissions in the coming years.

The lowest number in US carbon emissions did not happen during the Trump administration. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) report titled “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks,” published on April 13, the lowest gross US greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2018 is 6,373 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e). This number was achieved in 1991.

The next lowest gross greenhouse gas emission numbers during that time period were achieved in 1990 and 1992 at 6,437 MTCO2e and 6,480 MTCO2e, respectively.

After those 3, the next lowest number is 6,488 MTCO2e, which was achieved in 2017. However, the numbers were already declining since 2015. The amount of carbon emissions also increased in 2018.

Moreover, Trump has been rolling back climate policies, which could negatively affect the US’ greenhouse gas numbers in the coming years, according to the Rhodium Group, an independent research provider. Rhodium’s energy and climate team analyzes the market impact of energy and climate policy and the economic risks of climate change.

In a report published on September 17, Rhodium predicted that the total US emissions in 2035 will be 3% higher than they would have been without Trump’s rollbacks. – Vernise Tantuco/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.