Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new tool that gives you access to detailed information on the country’s biggest carbon polluters. The user-friendly and searchable map will let you identify the major facilities near you—power plants, refineries, chemical factories, and paper mills—that emit carbon dioxide and other climate-changing gases. It was created to help citizens fully understand the magnitude of the emissions problem and help demonstrate the need for carbon reductions.

Currently, the EPA is preparing regulations that would—for the first time—limit carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants. And it’s about time: this new data shows that power plants are responsible for the bulk of global warming pollution (over 72 percent of reported emissions).

Spotlight on Minnesota

Here’s an example of what you can learn from the EPA’s new tool. I took a look at Minnesota’s largest power plant emitters and listed them in descending order. Remember, since there are no national limits on carbon pollution from power plants, there’s no end to how much carbon pollution each plant could pump out.

*The top seven emitters on the list mainly burn coal. The two plants at the bottom—Riverside and High Bridge—burn natural gas.

Each year, the EPA develops an inventory of global warming emissions to keep track of national trends and help comply with the country’s obligation as a signer of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. In 2008, George W. Bush signed a law that required major emitters to provide the EPA with detailed annual reports of their carbon dioxide emissions and that of five other heat-trapping gases that cause global warming.

This year, the EPA collected data from over 6,700 sources—covering nearly 80 percent of the country’s emissions from large industrial sources—and reflects emissions from 2010. Note, however, that the data does not reflect total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions because agriculture, forestry, and transportation sources, for example, were not required to report emissions. The EPA will post the emissions that result from burning fossil fuels in cars and trucks and other product-related emissions later this year. One other disclaimer: you can’t accurately derive an individual state’s total emissions from this tool. We know, however, that Minnesota’s total emissions add up to about 150,000,000 metric tons every year.

Take action: Help reduce carbon pollution from the biggest sources

Right now, regulators at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission are examining the future of several of Minnesota’s power plants. Fresh Energy is providing information that clearly demonstrates the need for emissions reduction requirements. Learn how you can join our work to cut carbon pollution in Minnesota by contacting J. Drake Hamilton at Hamilton@fresh-energy.org.

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency released a new tool that gives you access to detailed information on the country’s biggest carbon polluters.