The Environmental Protection Agency in September moved to stop requiring thousands of polluting facilities to report the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases that they release into the atmosphere.

That could end requirements for thousands of coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, steel mills, etc., to report findings the government has collected since 2010 (Some emissions reporting for certain oil and gas facilities is mandated by Congress).

That Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program has compiled data from about 8,000 of the country’s largest industrial facilities — an important tool to track carbon dioxide, methane and other gases that drive climate change.

The proposal follows a series of steps by the Trump administration to weaken or dismantle environmental protections. For instance, the EPA in July moved to repeal the scientific finding that underpins the government’s legal authority to combat climate change, systematically erased mentions of climate change from government websites, cut federal funding for research on global warming, and directed several agencies to stop some offshore wind projects, a source of emissions-free electricity.