U.S. report sees steady rate of emissions

The Bush administration estimates in a report being completed for the United Nations that U.S. emissions of gases that contribute to global warming will grow in the next decade at a rate nearly equal to that of the past 10 years, The New York Times reported in Saturday editions.

According to the United States Climate Action Report, a copy of which was obtained by the newspaper, the administration's climate policy will result in emissions growing 11 percent in 2012 from 2002, compared with an 11.6 rate in the past decade, the Times said, citing the Environmental Protection Agency.

The report, which is more than a year late, also describes growing risks to water supplies, coasts and ecosystems around the country from anticipated temperature and precipitation changes driven by the buildup of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the Times said.