| While emissions of nitrogen
oxides and sulfur dioxide are decreasing after a decade of
market-based regulation, carbon dioxide emissions have
increased, according to analysis of power plant pollution data
for 2002. The data also show that wide disparities in pollution
rates persist throughout the electricity industry, with some
companies responsible for far higher pollution rates than their
electricity production would account for, and few power plants
using currently available, state-of-the-art emissions control
technologies. Although trends for mercury emissions are not
available, the electric power industry remains a major source of
mercury emissions in the United States. These findings (see
the press release for
more) are the result of the Benchmarking project, which uses
public data to compare the emissions performance of the 100
largest power producers in the United States, focusing on four
power plant pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury
and carbon dioxide. These pollutants cause or contribute to
global warming and to environmental and health problems
including acid rain, smog, particulate pollution and mercury
deposition.
The tables at left, presented in a sortable database to
facilitate analysis and visual comparison, detail emissions as
well as emission rates for the 100 largest U.S. power producers,
which account for about 90 percent of reported electricity
generation and emissions. Table 1 looks at emissions data, while
Table 2 uses that data to rank each company against the others. |
