How green is your state? That can be a hard question to answer on your own. You're familiar with your neighborhood's recycling programs and maybe even your city's environmental efforts; but, what has your state done for the earth lately?
A recent article in Forbes might help answer that question. They've come up with a list, in pictures, of America's greenest (and least green) states.
According to the article, to get these results, Forbes ranked the states on a per-capita basis in six equally weighted categories: carbon footprint, air quality, water quality, hazardous waste management, policy initiatives and energy consumption, and they used data from the following sources: the American Lung Association's 2007 State of the Air Report, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's energy efficiency scorecard, U.S. Green Building Council, the Energy Information Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Sierra Club.
In other words, they were thorough.
We honestly didn't think we'd be surprised by the results; however, we kind of are. Take a look for yourself: Does your state fall about where you imagine it should in the rankings? Ours (California) sure doesn't!
Image via forbes.com
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Check out the US Carbon Footprint Map
Check out the US Carbon Footprint Map, an interactive United States Carbon Footprint Map, illustrating Greenest States to Cities. This site has all sorts of stats on individual State & City energy consumptions, demographics and much more down to your local US City level...
http://www.eredux.com/states/
Portland's #1
How about top ranked cities in the country?
The SustainLane 2006 US city rankings of the 50 largest cities is the nation’s most complete report card on urban sustainability. The rankings explain how people’s quality of life and city economic and management preparedness are likely to fare in the face of an uncertain future. These indicators gauge, for instance, which cities’ public transit, renewable energy, local food, and development approaches are more likely to either limit or intensify the negative economic and environmental impacts of fossil fuel dependence. http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/overview.jsp
· 1 Portland, OR: 85.08
· 2 San Francisco: 81.82
· 3 Seattle: 79.64
· 4 Chicago: 70.64
· 5 Oakland: 69.18
· 6 New York City: 68.20
· 7 Boston: 68.18
· 8 Philadelphia: 67.28
· 9 Denver: 66.72
· 10 Minneapolis: 66.60
· 11 Baltimore: 64.78
· 12 Washington: 63.14
· 13 Sacramento: 62.64
· 14 Austin: 62.00
· 15 Honolulu: 61.42
· 16 Milwaukee: 60.42
· 17 San Diego: 57.18
· 18 Kansas City, MO: 56.64
· 19 Albuquerque: 56.10
· 20 Tucson: 55.86
· 21 San Antonio: 54.60
· 22 Phoenix: 54.60
· 23 San Jose: 54.28
· 24 Dallas: 52.58
· 25 Los Angeles: 52.28
· 26 Colorado Springs: 51.36
· 27 Las Vegas: 50.24
· 28 Cleveland: 50.10
· 29 Miami: 50
· 30 Long Beach: 49.46
· 31 El Paso: 49.10
· 32 New Orleans: 49.04**
· 33 Fresno: 48.96
· 34 Charlotte: 47.58
· 35 Louisville: 47.14
· 36 Jacksonville: 46.80
· 37 Omaha: 46.56
· 38 Atlanta: 45.20
· 39 Houston: 44.68
· 40 Tulsa: 43.73
· 41 Arlington, TX: 41.80
· 42 Nashville: 40.70
· 43 Detroit: 40.30*
· 43 Memphis: 40.30*
· 45 Indianapolis: 38.40
· 46 Fort Worth: 37.50
· 47 Mesa: 36.70
· 48 Virginia Beach: 34.00
· 49 Oklahoma City: 32.92
· 50 Columbus: 32.50
Yay for #1
Their #1 ranking is one of the many many things that drew me to Portland. :)
Victoria E
Writer, Model, Environmentalist, Crafter, Yogi
http://victoria-e.com/
Yay for Oregon
I'm happy to see Oregon near the top of the list (tied with Vermont for 1st) since I might be moving there next year :O
Victoria E
Writer, Model, Environmentalist, Crafter, Yogi
http://victoria-e.com/