EPA’s annual greenhouse gas report for large emitters shows some facilities slashed their emissions while others polluted more than ever.
By Phil McKenna, Inside Climate News October 29, 2023
Emissions from the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the U.S. were down slightly in 2022, but thousands of industrial facilities with substantial emissions remain, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently released Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data.
Emissions from large industrial sources decreased by approximately 1 percent to 2.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022, according to the annual update of emissions data released on Oct. 5. The data represents emissions from 7,586 industrial facilities across nearly all sectors of the economy and represents about half of all U.S. emissions.
An Inside Climate News analysis of the data highlights the top 10 greenhouse gas emitters as well as the top emitter for each of six leading greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride, the world’s most potent greenhouse gas.
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The assessment also identified top emitters of CO2 and methane, the two leading drivers of climate change, from each of several significant sectors of the economy for greenhouse gas emissions—refineries, steel mills, liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminals, and underground gas storage facilities.
Some of the country’s largest climate polluters slashed their emissions in 2022 or said they are in the process of doing so, either voluntarily or by government mandate.
Moving off this year’s list was an underground natural gas storage facility, the Petal Gas Storage Compressor Station in Petal, Mississippi, a once-leading climate polluter that reduced its methane emissions by 91 percent from 2018 to 2022 and is no longer the highest emitter among gas storage sites. Other industrial facilities remained top polluters in 2022 but said they have reduced or will reduce, their emissions by 99 percent or more by the end of this year. Still, others reported their highest emissions yet in 2022.
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