"WASHINGTON -- Emissions from power plants, refineries and other industrial facilities in the United States increased in 2013, up 20 million metric tons -- or 0.6 percent -- over the previous year, according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency released Tuesday.

The EPA said the increase in 2013 was "driven largely by an increase in coal use for power generation." Thirteen million metric tons of increase was from the power sector alone. The agency said 1,550 power plants released a total of more than 2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions last year. Overall, however, emissions from power plants are down 9.8 percent since 2010, the agency said.

The agency has collected data on emissions from major industrial facilities for the past four years as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. A separate tally, from the Global Carbon Project, reported last week that U.S. emissions were up 2.9 percent in 2013."

Kate Sheppard reports for the Huffington Post September 30, 2014. [2]