U.S. greenhouse gas emissions surged in 2007.

According to a new release from the Energy Information Administration, “U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 were 1.4 percent above the 2006 total.” This increase erases the 1% drop in emissions in 2006, for which Bush claimed credit (even though the decrease was due to an unusually warm winter and high fuel prices). U.S. annual emissions are now 17% greater than they were in 1990. To avoid catastrophic climate change, the International Panel on Climate Change projects that “industrialized countries would need to reduce emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.”

Update:

Climate Progress’s Joe Romm has more.