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Pollution from power plants spiked last year, report finds: Here's why

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Published  February 27, 2026 4:32pm EST
Environment
FOX Local
article

FILE - Power plant smoke being blown by wind. (Getty Images) 

The Brief

    • An analysis of EPA data found U.S. power plant pollution rose in 2025, with sulfur dioxide emissions up 18%, nitrogen oxide up 7%, and carbon dioxide up 4%.
    • The Natural Resources Defense Council linked the increase to the Trump administration’s rollback of Biden-era emissions standards, particularly at coal-fired plants granted exemptions.
    • The EPA pushed back on the findings, saying focusing on a single year ignores the broader long-term decline in overall emissions.

Pollution from power plants in the United States increased significantly in 2025, according to an analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data.

Emissions of sulfur dioxide increased by 18% in 2025, according to an analysis of the EPA data by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.

The analysis claimed that the Trump administration’s rollback of strict Biden-era standards for emissions was a direct correlation to the increase. 

Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions

The increase in sulfur dioxide emissions was driven mostly by coal being burned to generate electricity, according to a Wall Street Journal report. 

By the numbers:

The NRDC found that power plants’ emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide increased 18%, 7% and 4%, respectively. 

What they're saying:

"President Trump gave coal plants a free pass to pollute, and they took him up on the offer," said Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "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."

Percentages of pollution fell by 7% in 2024, before the Trump administration took office, the analysis showed.

Across 71 U.S. coal plants that sought and received exemptions from the Mercury and Air Toxics standards, sulfur dioxide emissions increased by 24%.

The other coal plants in the U.S. added another 12.6%. 

Texas power plant pollution saw the biggest increase

Texas power plants saw the biggest spike in sulfur dioxide emissions in 2025 compared to 2024, according to the NRDC.

Local perspective:

Six power plants in Texas received exemptions from the Trump administration and those six plants correlate to a 48% increase in sulfur dioxide emissions year-over-year based on the EPA’s data. 

"The public health cost from just these six plants’ pollution: $8.8 billion," the NRDC estimated.

The biggest power plant in Texas, WA Parish, emitted 49% more sulfur dioxide in 2025, more than all six power plants combined that same year. 

EPA responds

The other side:

A spokesperson with the EPA told WSJ that focusing on a single-year increase in emissions was short-sighted and didn’t see the bigger picture of an overall decline in pollution.

"Cherry-picking one year of data, while ignoring the overall downward trend in emission levels is just misleading," the spokesperson said. 

The Source: Information for this article was taken from reporting by the Wall Street Journal and a Natural Resources Defense Council news release based on its analysis. This story was reported from San Jose. 

Environment