U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rebounded sharply in 2021 after a pandemic-caused dip the year before.
Emissions rose 6.2% from 2020 levels when the coronavirus crippled the economy.
That's according to a report released Monday by the Rhodium Group, which found the use of coal-fired electricity jumped 17% last year.
All the while, drivers - and their gas burning vehicles - returned to the roads.
The U.S. transportation sector, which accounts for nearly a third of net U.S. emissions, saw the largest spike in emissions in 2021 at 10 percent... a year after experiencing a 15% decline due to the pandemic.
Monday's report found that emissions growth outpaced the rate of economic recovery.
The overall increase puts the Biden administration further off its target - under the Paris climate agreement - to slash emissions 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030.
And global levels of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere hit new highs in 2021, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, making last year the fifth hottest on record.
