The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting analyzed a federal dataset to find the industrial facilities that directly released the most greenhouse gases – mainly carbon dioxide – in each of the following states: Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia.
More than two-thirds of the facilities are power plants and most — more than 70% — burn coal to make electricity, while more than a third use natural gas. Several plants burn both fuels.
Oil refineries, chemical manufacturers and steel mills are also among the region’s largest individual sources of greenhouse gas emissions…