Report: Pennsylvania ranked fourth nationally in greenhouse gas emissions in 2020

By Harrison Cann

Pennsylvania ranked fourth in the nation in greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, with just 12 facilities making up nearly one-fifth of the commonwealth’s total pollution, according to a new report by the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center.

“It’s clear that Pennsylvania is an outsized part of the problem of climate change,” Zachary Barber, Clean Air Advocate for PennEnvironment, said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “This report highlights the need to rein in these facilities and tackle these emissions.”

Barber was joined by state Sen. Carolyn Comitta in Harrisburg Tuesday to announce the report alongside legislation calling for modernization of the state’s renewable energy standards.

The report, titled “Pennsylvania’s Dirty Dozen,” reveals the state’s top polluters, noting that southwestern Pennsylvania accounted for 44% of the commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions reported by large polluters. It demonstrated that industrial facilities and power plants are the two biggest contributors to pollution in the commonwealth, with those two sectors making up roughly 60% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.

Among the top emitters were the Keystone Generating Station in Armstrong County and the Conemaugh and Homer City power plants in Indiana County. Meanwhile, steel, mining and cement facilities were among the largest emitters in the industrial sector, with U.S. Steel in Allegheny County atop that list.

“The electrical power sector was the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the commonwealth between 1990 and 2017. But in 2018, industry took over as the largest emitter, and it remains so today,” the report said. “This shift is likely due to the dramatic reduction in coal-fired power generation in Pennsylvania.”