Large polluters cut greenhouse gas emissions 4 percent last year: EPA data

Emissions from large polluters dropped 4 percent last year, according to self-reported data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

These large polluters, which include power plants, belong to a subset known as “large stationary sources” and represent about half of the country’s total emissions, the EPA said Tuesday. 

Power plants cut their planet-warming emissions by 7.2 percent between 2022 and 2023.

The agency said that this sector emitted 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023 and that last year’s decline follows a longer-term emissions drop linked to a shift in fuel source from coal to gas.

Power plant emissions are down 33.8 percent since 2011. This sector represents a quarter of the country’s total emissions. 

The data comes from the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program, under which companies are required to report their own emissions to the agency.

The EPA also said that in 2023, emissions from oil and gas production and processing increased by 1.4 percent, and are 16.4 percent above where they were in 2016. 

Emissions from other major pollution in industrial and waste sectors fell by 1.1 percent.