Together, those 50 facilities generated 471.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 — more than the total output of any state but Texas, according to the report, released Tuesday by environmental organizations Frontier Group, Environment America Research and Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
By far, Texas was the state with the most greenhouse gas emissions, according to the analysis. Facilities in the Lone Star State belched 873 million metric tons of emissions in 2022. That's more than the total combined emissions of the second-and third-worst states, California and Florida, in that order.
In response to the study, city-owned CPS Energy said it's dedicated to a clean environment and plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 as part of San Antonio's Climate Action & Adaption Plan.
"The utility plans to reduce carbon emissions by 41% by 2030 and 71% by 2040 from 2016 levels and has made significant progress in securing new generation for the community through its approved generation plan," Milady N. Nazir, a spokeswoman for the utility said in an emailed statement. "This year, we have added an additional 84 MW of wind, 150 MW of solar and another 350 MW of battery storage to our portfolio."
“It’s 2024. We no longer have to choose between keeping the lights on and protecting the environment. We have the technology to power our lives without trading away our health and a stable climate,” Environment America Executive Director Lisa Frank said in a statement. “Despite that, a small number of big polluters are still treating the air we all breathe like their sewer. It’s time for these power plants to clean up their act.”
Even though coal-fired electricity remains one of the nation's largest sources of carbon pollution, such plants are on the decline, and the share of power generated by renewable energy in the U.S. blew past coal two years ago.
Indeed, seven of the top 50 polluting power plants highlighted in the new report have planned retirement dates between 2024 and 2038.
For its part, CPS Energy pledged to end its use of coal by 2028, shutting down Spruce 1 by September of that year and converting Spruce 2 to natural gas by 2027. Even so, environmental groups argue the utility could be doing more to shift entirely to renewable sources rather than rely on natural gas.
The report's authors noted that pollution curbing rules adopted this year by the Biden White House also will put pressure on power plants that operate on fossil fuels. One of those requires existing coal plants to control 90% of their carbon pollution by 2039.
“Climate change is a big problem, but our analysis shows that by targeting a relatively small number of facilities the nation can achieve major pollution reductions,” Frontier Group Senior Policy Analyst Elizabeth Ridlington said in a statement. “The sooner these plants are powered down the better for our health and the planet. Clean energy such as wind, solar and geothermal can meet all our electricity needs."
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed
