Texas leads U.S. in greenhouse gas emissions

chron.com ^ | 11 Jan 2012 | Matthew Tresaugue

[smokingfrog]

As the nation's light switch and gas pump, Texas releases far more greenhouse gases into the air than any other state, according to federal data released Wednesday.

Texas' coal-fired power plants and oil refineries generated 294 million tons of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in 2010, more than the next two states - Pennsylvania and Florida - combined, the data shows.

The Environmental Protection Agency released the data by industrial facility for the first time as part of a broader effort to reduce emissions linked to global warming.

The agency collected data from more than 6,700 industrial facilities that release at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases into the air a year. The threshold is comparable to the emissions from burning 131 railcars of coal, the EPA said.

While industry-heavy Texas' ranking did not surprise, environmental groups said data shows the need for federal regulation of greenhouse gases. The EPA said new rules for emissions of heat-trapping gases from power plants and other major sources could be released by the end of the month.

"It highlights the need to take action, especially considering the extreme weather we have seen lately," said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, an advocacy group.

[smokingfrog]

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