2025 US Power Plant Inventory: Sulfur Dioxide Output Up 18%, NOx Emissions Up 7%, CO2 Emissions Up 4%

[hatrack]

U.S. power plant pollution rose last year, according to a green group’s analysis of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data. Emissions of sulfur dioxide increased by 18 percent in 2025, according to an analysis of the EPA data by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.

The group found that plants’ nitrogen oxide emissions increased 7 percent and their carbon dioxide emissions increased by 4 percent. Both sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can harm people’s respiratory systems.

The analysis found that at the dozens of coal plants that President Trump exempted from strict Biden-era standards for Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS), sulfur dioxide emissions increased by 24 percent.

“President Trump gave coal plants a free pass to pollute, and they took him up on the offer,” Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said in a written statement. “With no cop on the beat to make sure the owners of these plants ran their pollution controls effectively, they ignored the health of their surrounding communities to save a few bucks on their costs. The rest of us will pay with our health.”

EDIT

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5757847-trump-epa-power-plant-pollution/

[Turbineguy]

1. Just because you can, it doesn't mean you have to.