WASHINGTON (Sept. 12, 2025) – The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would stop collecting and publishing the annual greenhouse gas emissions from factories, refineries and other facilities. Ending this 10-year-old reporting program violates a clear congressional requirement and will leave Americans in the dark about the worst-polluting facilities in the nation.
This follows EPA’s proposal to deny that climate-changing pollution endangers human health and welfare. It also reflects actions across the government to bury climate science data, fire scientific staff, shut down websites with climate information, discontinue satellites, and halt atmospheric research.
The following is a comment from David Doniger, senior strategist at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“This is another act of wanton climate destruction from the Trump administration. EPA is giving polluting industries yet another free pass, this time to keep their climate emissions hidden from public view.
“Big polluters may want to keep their climate pollution secret, but more than 15 years ago Congress ordered EPA to collect and publish this data each year. This proposal gives polluters the secrecy they want in violation of the law.
“Members of the public, state and local policymakers, and even industries themselves have depended on this data for more than a decade. Public accountability and investor benchmarking have led many companies to reduce their climate pollution even before EPA sets standards.
“This is a cynical effort to keep the American public in the dark, because if they don’t know who the polluters are, they can’t do anything to hold them responsible.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).