Plant Scherer in Juliette.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The most detailed data yet on emissions of
heat-trapping gases show that U.S. power plants are responsible for the bulk of the emissions blamed for global warming.
And the power plant that emits the most greenhouse gases in the U.S. is Plant Scherer in Juliette. The plant is operated by Southern Company and co-owned with several other utilities.
The coal-fired plant reported releasing nearly 23 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, in 2010.
Power plants released 72 percent of the greenhouse gases reported to the Environmental Protection Agency for 2010. The data include more than 6,700 of the largest sources of greenhouse gases, or about 80 percent of total U.S. emissions.
In December 2009, the EPA ruled that six greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, "taken in combination endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations" and declared the mixture of the six gases to be "air pollution."
We asked Southern Company for comment on the new emissions data.
Spokesman Mark Williams said Plant Scherer topped the list for emissions simply because it's one of the the biggest coal-fired power plants in the U.S. He said Southern Company is spending six billion dollars on emissions controls for its plants and that the controls at Plant Scherer are state-of-the-art.
Williams said Southern Company "is at the forefront of greenhouse gas research and is an industry leader in researching and developing new technologies to reduce them."
According to an Associated Press analysis of the data, 20 power plants in 14 states account for the top-releasing sites.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.All Rights Reserved.)