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PERI Greenhouse 100 Suppliers Press Release For Colorado

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Michael Ash mash@umass.edu / 413-545-6329 or Kim Weinstein kweinstein@peri.umass.edu / 703-229-2146
or visit PERI's Corporate Toxics Information Project on the web at
http://toxic100.org.

PERI Releases Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Rankings of U.S. Fossil Fuel Suppliers

AMHERST, MA, October 2, 2023 – The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) of the University of Massachusetts Amherst announces the publication of the Greenhouse 100 Suppliers, a comprehensive ranking of corporations that contribute to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by supplying fossil fuels. The Greenhouse 100 Suppliers rankings come with an open-access database that provides information on all fossil fuel suppliers in the country and by state, both at the level of individual facilities and at the level of parent corporations that own them, and offers a comprehensive search tool for every fossil fuel corporation.

The following is PERI's analysis for Colorado.

Overall

Summary for ColoradoValue
Total 2021 CO2 from supplied fuels (millions of metric tons):73.2
Percentage of national total:1.6
Rank among US states (1=top):16
CO2 from petroleum (mmt):10.6
CO2 from natural gas (mmt):23.9
CO2 from coal (mmt):24.0

Top 5 Supplier Companies in Colorado

CompanyCO2 (mmt)CO2 from oil (mmt)CO2 from nat. gas (mmt)CO2 from coal (mmt)Num. facilities
Kinder Morgan14.30.00.00.01
Xcel Energy13.80.013.80.01
Suncor Energy10.610.60.00.01
Arch Resources7.30.00.07.31
CenterPoint Energy4.30.04.30.02

Top 10 Supplier Facilities in Colorado

Facility NameCO2 (metric tons)Company
Cortez CO2 Production Area14,261,515Kinder Morgan
Public Service Company of Colorado13,844,355Xcel Energy
SUNCOR ENERGY (USA) COMMERCE CITY REFINERY10,622,599Suncor Energy
West Elk Mine7,324,146Arch Resources
Foidel Creek Mine3,891,785Peabody Energy
Summit Utilities Inc., Arkansas (Arkansas)3,583,245CenterPoint Energy
Colowyo Mine3,510,545Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association
Deserado Mine3,448,999Deseret Generation & Transmission Cooperative
Trapper Mine2,591,236MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company; Platte River Power Authority; Salt River Project; Tri-State Generation
Colorado Springs Utilities - Natural Gas Local Distribution Company2,485,745COLORADO SPRINGS UTILITIES

The recent court case Held vs Montana, a historic victory for young climate advocates, drew attention to the importance of fossil fuel production at the state level. The companion Greenhouse 100 Suppliers State List presents state rankings for the quantity of fossil fuels introduced into the U.S. economy. Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana, California, and Illinois top the list. (Montana is 14th among states.)

The Greenhouse 100 Suppliers rankings are the first comprehensive database to cover emissions from all three fossil fuels: oil, natural gas, and coal. The Greenhouse 100 Suppliers rankings are based on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Project (GHGRP) on oil and natural gas suppliers, together with data on coal suppliers obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, using methods described in a peer-reviewed journal article. (Coal suppliers were exempted from the reporting requirements of the GHGRP.) This second edition of the Greenhouse 100 Suppliers contains more detailed data than the first edition, especially for coal mines, and the Greenhouse 100 Coal Suppliers data are also available.

The rankings provide a window on corporate responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and potential liability for the resulting damages to Earth’s climate. “In making this information available, we are building on the historic achievements of the right-to-know movement,” explains Professor Michael Ash, co-director of PERI’s Corporate Toxics Information Project. “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.”

Detailed state page for Colorado