Naming Worst U.S. Corporate Polluters

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AMHERST, MA, December 19, 2022 – Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst today published for the first time the Greenhouse Suppliers 100, which ranks U.S. companies by the contribution of their fossil-fuel distribution to global climate change. PERI also is publishing new editions of the Greenhouse 100, ranking U.S. companies by their emissions responsible for global climate change according to the U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, and the Toxic 100 Air and Toxic 100 Water, ranking U.S. industrial polluters using the U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory and Risk Screening Environmental Indicators. ThePERI Indexes include Environmental Justice indicators to assess impacts on low-income people and minorities.

The Greenhouse Suppliers 100 ranks companies by their 2020 supply of products that result in greenhouse gas emissions when released, combusted, or oxidized. The top four companies are petroleum refiners: Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66, Valero Energy, and Exxon Mobil. Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 also extract natural gas. The top four each produced fossil fuels that resulted in at least 280 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions. Fifth-ranked Peabody Energy is on the list because of coal mining. Rounding out the top 10 are Enterprise Products Partners, Chevron, BP, Arch Resources, and Shell PLC.

The Greenhouse 100 ranks companies by 2020 direct emissions of greenhouse gasses from facilities. The top three companies are Vistra Energy, Duke Energy, and Southern Company, continuing a four-year period in which these were in the top three. Each released more than 75 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions. Together these three companies released 4 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from all sources including non-energy sources. The rest of the top 10 in the Greenhouse 100 are Berkshire Hathaway, American Electric Power, Energy Capital Partners, NextEra Energy, Xcel Energy, and Exxon Mobil, with the U.S. government ranked 9th. The top company whose direct emissions are not dominated by electric power plants is Exxon Mobil at rank 10. Among the top 10, Energy Capital Partners has the highest weighted share of minorities living within 10 miles of its facilities.

The Toxic 100 Air Polluters reports that the top 10 companies in terms of US EPA’s estimate of the 2020 total potential chronic human health risk from toxic chemical air pollutants are LyondellBasell, BASF, Becton Dickinson, Salzgitter, Huntsman, Dow Inc, Canopus International, Celanese, Berkshire Hathaway, and NOV Inc. Five of these companies are in the top 10 almost entirely because of chromium or ethylene oxide from one facility. EPA assesses not just how many pounds of pollutants are released, but which are the most toxic and who is exposed. The index includes environmental justice indicators: for example, while minorities make up just under 40 percent of the U.S. population, they bear 68 percent of the air-toxics risk from facilities owned by LyondellBasell.

The Toxic 100 Water Polluters ranks the pounds of toxics released into surface water or sent to water-treatment systems, adjusted for chemical toxicity, based on EPA data. Northrop Grumman, LyondellBasell, NextEra Industries, Dow Inc, and Cargill top the Toxic 100 Water for 2020. The Toxic 100 Water includes Environmental Justice indicators: for example, minorities bear 63% of the toxic hazard from water releases and transfers to water treatment facilities by Dow Inc.

A search tool provides information on every company, not only the top 100, reporting to the Toxics Release Inventory, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, or the EIA-7A coal mine survey. The Indexes cover publicly traded as well as privately held companies, such as Koch Industries at rank 58 among the Toxic 100 Air Polluters, that appear on Forbes, Fortune, or S&P lists. Other PERI/CTIP data tools include Air Toxics at School and the Coal Producers Index.

“The Toxic 100 and Greenhouse 100 inform consumers, shareholders, regulators, lawmakers, and communities which large corporations release toxic and climate-altering pollutants into our environment,” said Professor Michael Ash, co-director of PERI’s Corporate Toxics Information Project.

“People have a right to know about their exposure to toxic hazards. Legislators need to understand the effects of pollution on their constituents. In making this information available, we are building on the achievements of the right-to-know movement,” notes Ash. “Our goal is to engender public participation in environmental decision-making, and to help residents translate the right to know into the right to clean air, clean water, and a livable planet.”