Rick Perry: Proud Of Texas’ Polluters?

Under Rick Perry’s watch, Texas leads the nation in several categories when it comes to having the most polluting power plants.

That, of course, should come as no surprise given that Perry and his Republican allies in the Legislature have done everything in their power to make sure that Texas’ biggest polluters just get a slap on the wrist for violating the state’s already weakened environmental laws.

The Environmental Integrity Project has issued a report that is pretty damning for Texas when it comes to polluting power plants. Not only is Texas home to three of the nation’s dirtiest power plants, but:

Texas has more plants (6) represented in the top 50 than any other state for CO2 emission rates. Large coal-fired power plants in Georgia, Alabama, and Indiana are among the biggest CO2 polluters in terms of total tons. Large lignite-burning power plants in North Dakota and Texas rank
among the worst CO2 polluters based on emission rate. Lignite is low grade fuel, abundant in places like Texas and North Dakota, and its comparatively low BTU (heat) value means more CO2 for the electricity it generates.

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Plants in Texas and Pennsylvania topped the list for the nation’s highest power plant mercury emission rates. AEP’s Pirkey plant (Texas) and Reliant’s Shawville plant (Pennsylvania) are the top two dirtiest plants based on mercury emission rates. The top 50 power plant mercury polluters accounted for more than 20 tons, or 43 percent of the industry’s mercury emissions, and generated 33 percent of the electricity. TXU’s Martin Lake (Texas) plant ranked number one, with more than 1,700 pounds of mercury emissions. Southern Company’s Miller plant (Alabama) and Scherer plant (Georgia) came in second and third, emitting 1,544 and 1,465 pounds, respectively. Twenty-three plants in 13 states ranked in the top 50 for both emission rate and total pounds emitted. Two Texas power plants, TXU’s Big Brown and American Electric Power’s Pirkey, rank in the top 10 for both emission rate and total pounds.

This is one set of rankings where no one would have complained if Texas placed last or didn’t even make the report. Yet, while we’re at the bottom of the barrel nationally in terms of park funding and a myriad of other environmental issues, we’re at the top in terms of pollution.

I could break down for you how the various plants rank in the sets of rankings, but I’ll let the data speak for itself. The full report is here (check out how many of the maps at the end show Texas in very, very dark colors—we’re the worst in many datasets), and here is the site where you can pull statewide reports and even generate your own reports based on data you are interested in.

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