Philly-area power plant is on group’s list of ‘dirty dozen’ Pa. greenhouse gas polluters

Federal data analyzed by PennEnvironment, an environmental advocacy group, show that Pennsylvania’s top 12 greenhouse gas-emitting facilities consist mostly of power plants that burn fossil fuels. The largest concentration of polluters is in the southwestern part of the state — although one is in Bucks County.

PennEnvironment released its report Tuesday on the “dirty dozen” polluters, saying the commonwealth was the fourth-largest greenhouse gas-emitting state in the United States and has a responsibility to act because of climate change. The dozen facilities account for one-fifth of the state’s climate pollution. All but one of the 12 are electric-generating power plants fueled by coal or gas.

Overall, there are 287 industrial facilities, power plants, mines, and other large polluters required to report emissions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Pennsylvania is one of America’s largest sources of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, most of which comes from the burning of fossil fuels and methane, a climate pollutant more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame, according to the report that analyzed emissions reported in 2021. Systems that burn oil, gas, or coal account for the largest sources of methane in Pennsylvania.

The facilities are legally permitted to discharge gases into the atmosphere under state and federal rules.

“The old adage ‘cheaper by the dozen’ doesn’t apply to Pennsylvania’s 12 largest global warming polluters,” said Stephanie Wein of the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. “The Dirty Dozen’s climate-changing emissions are costly to Pennsylvanians and our planet.”

Many of the state’s coal-fired plants have been retired in recent years, or are scheduled to retire, largely as the result of economics, including competition from the state’s large natural-gas industry. For example, Homer City Generation LP announced recently it is closing its plant in Indiana County within the next few months and more than 100 people will lose their jobs. It is the largest coal-fired facility in the state by capacity. It is the third-largest emitter on PennEnvironment’s list, releasing 4.4 million metric tons of greenhouse gases a year.

PennEnvironment’s analysis showed:

“The pollution sources identified in this report not only release the greenhouse gasses that are fueling the climate crisis, they also release the chemicals that create dangerous ground-level ozone — the main component of smog — leading to more dangerous bad air days here in Philadelphia,” added Russell Zerbo, an advocate with Clean Air Council.