Before the industrial revolution the carbon cycle was able to keep the levels of CO2 balanced. With the coming of new technologies and burning fossil fuels humans have overwhelmed nature's balance, and the carbon cycle is no longer able to keep this stability. Humans also began putting other harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at the same time. In the United States emissions primarily come from energy use.
This figure gives several insights into the United State's emissions profile. Transportation and industrial uses account for the most energy use by sector and corresponding to this these sectors have the highest CO2 emissions. One positive from this figure is how large the portion for non-fossil fuels are in the electricity by sector. The percentage is still small compared to the fossil, but it shows that there is progress being made to solve the problem at hand. The next figure shows how unevenly emissions are produced by developed versus undeveloped countries and brings up possible social justice issues.
Noticing that the developing countries are expected to pass industrialized countries seems counter intuitive. However, several variables can account for this. For example, often times developing countries produce goods that get shipped to industrialized places. Who should be responsible for these emissions? It is examples such as this that portrait how complicated this issue is, but in the end we are all in this together.
According to wikipedia the top 10 emission producing countries are responsible for 2/3 of all emissions. The top three emitters are China, US, and the EU. Keep in mind that the EU is comprised of many countries.
Sources:
http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions
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