Trump EPA Plan Would Restrict Public’s Right to Know About Climate Pollution |
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Since 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required large industrial facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions. The data, which the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program has been collecting since 2011, is essential in efforts to reduce emissions and provides vital information to the public about climate pollution from the largest U.S. polluters. However, the Trump EPA has proposed to put an end to greenhouse gas reporting by major polluters. This move is consistent with the Trump administration’s intent to make climate denial an official U.S. policy and restricts the public from the right to know. Subsequently, it will deprive communities from having access to a critical tool for holding pollutants accountable.
Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have been using EPA data for many years now to rank the top U.S. polluters and disseminate vital information to the public. They publish their findings annually and have just released the 2025 edition of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Index. In the interview that follows, Michael Ash, professor of economics and public policy and co-director of PERI’s Corporate Toxics Information Project, shares the latest data on the top U.S. climate pollutants and discusses the consequences of the potential end of EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program in the fight against climate change and climate justice.
C.J. Polychroniou: For many years now, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been providing a valuable service to public interest in general and to activists in particular by collecting and releasing information and analysis on corporate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions through its Corporate Toxics Information Project. Last month, the 2025 edition of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Index was published, using the latest data available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The index takes on new significance since the EPA has announced plans to end the program, which amounts to an erosion of the people’s right to know. But before we get to that, what does the new edition of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Index look like? Which corporations are the top climate polluters in the country, and have there been any significant changes in total emissions and rankings from last year?
Michael Ash: The top of the list remains similar; the biggest point emitters of greenhouse gases are the electrical power companies that burn fossil fuels to generate electricity. Topping the list are Vistra Energy, Southern Company, and Duke Energy. Their combined 235 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions made up just under 4 percent of all U.S. contributions to........