Glenn Reynolds links:

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions dropped slightly last year even as the economy grew, according to an initial estimate released yesterday by the Energy Information Administration.

As Randy would say, “Yo Dog, check it out…”One data point does not a trend make, but it’s obviously possible fortably grow the economy and domestic output without increasing CO2.

Sorta like reducing taxes while growing tax revenues, I guess.

This should be a wakeup call to conservatives who contend that any whiff of man-made greenhouse gas management will destroy the most powerful economy on earth. It’s also a poke in the eyeto all those Goreons out there driving their SUVs to global warming worship services miserate on the evils of America and pray they could be more like the EU (whose gas problem was worse in 2006, by the way).

DOE’s report is linked here. I thought about lifting some key bits from it but there’s so much good info summarized in here that you really should take 5 minutes and read the whole thing.

Don’t get too cocky – 2006 was mild weather-wise, which helped a lot. But as long as our economy keeps seeking more ways to save money on fossil fuels and make alternative energy more profitable, U.S. man-made CO2 emissions have the potential to significantly ease off. And that’s a good thing.

By the way, if you want to see a great example of economic impacts tied to CO2, check out the big down-blip in 2001 on page 3.

[Don’s other habitat is ]