Texas leads list of dirtiest U.S. power plants

By Bernie Woodall

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Texas has the most entries on a list of the dirtiest U.S. power plants, while New England and the Pacific Coast make less carbon dioxide because they have fewer coal-burning plants, an environmental group said on Thursday.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is the main cause of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

Of the 50 "dirtiest" power plants with the highest carbon dioxide emissions in the country, all are coal-fired. Texas accounts for five on the list, and Indiana and Pennsylvania each have four, the Environmental Integrity Project annual study found.

U.S. power plant CO2 emissions actually fell 2 percent in 2006 from 2005, but the report focused on the fact that a new wave of coal-fired plants -- about 150 nationwide -- could increase CO2 pollution by 34 percent by 2030, the study said.

"The power industry is racing to build more coal-fired power plants," said the report's principal author, Ilan Levin, an attorney for EIP.

"Once utility companies secure their air pollution permits, we can expect them to argue that these new plants should be 'grandfathered,' or exempt from any pending limits on greenhouse gases."

Coal-burning power plants make half the electricity used in the United States. And the United States in the latest United Nations report -- for 2003 -- was at 23 percent the top national producer of CO2 emissions, with China second at 16.5 percent.

Energy company advocate Scott Segal of law firm Bricewell & Giuliani LLP said the EIP study is flawed.