EPA 2022 Inventory: U.S. Emissions at 6,343 Million Metric Tons, Land Sink Offsets 13% But Reporting at Risk

The EPA's 2022 greenhouse gas inventory shows U.S. gross emissions of 6,343.2 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, with forests, croplands, and other land use absorbing about 13 percent of that total. That land sink is a significant offset, but it is not a permanent solution, as older forests and wildfire could flip it to a source. The number is also at risk of becoming harder to verify, since the EPA has proposed cutting most reporting requirements under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which feeds the national inventory. The inventory also highlights that the power sector accounts for roughly 24 percent of U.S. emissions, second only to transportation. Meanwhile, the EPA has repealed pollution limits on fossil fuel power plants and moved to repeal the 2009 endangerment finding, the legal basis for all federal greenhouse gas regulation. If those changes go through, the country could lose both the data pipeline and the legal framework needed to track and regulate emissions, making the 2022 snapshot the last reliable picture for years.