dominance lost

According to a shocking new report from the International Energy Agency, the United States is no longer the world's biggest energy consumer, losing the title to China after more than a century of dominance. China jumped to an impressive lead after upping consumption to 2252 million tons of oil equivalents annually, while the U.S. was barely treading water with 2170 million tons. The Obama administration tried to put a calm face on the startling news, with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs pointing out that the U.S. is still number one in oil consumption, while China is "using primarily coal. Dirty grimy coal. Which is mined by children. And sometimes the mines cave in on them." The Republicans, however, were not buying into the bravado. "Energy efficiency and conservation, that's what this president says he wants," grim-faced House Minority Leader Boehner told FOX News. "What I think is really on the Obama agenda is an end to American exceptionalism. My God, this is a record that stretches back to the early 1900s, a record that even Jimmy Carter was unable to diminish." "Another demoralizing uncomplishment by the Obama regime," tweeted renowned energy policy expert Sarah Palin. "#2 and not trying harder, are ya?" However the politics of this story plays out, there is enough blame to be shared by both parties. The decline is seen as part of a sad legacy which began during the Bush years, when in 2007 China overtook the U.S. as the leading producer of carbon dioxide and other emissions.