How much carbon dioxide does your state produce?

They say everything’s bigger in Texas. Well, so is its carbon footprint, according to the August Choose Energy analysis of the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Texas produces about 12.9 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide, according to the numbers.

The Lone Star State’s 684 million metric tons of carbon dioxide produced in 2018 was more than double the amount emitted in California, the second-largest producer.

Following are the states that produced the most carbon dioxide emissions (in million metric tons):

State	2018	State	2018
Texas	684.0	Georgia	142.8
California	356.6	North Carolina	124.8
Florida	243.2	Missouri	124.7
Pennsylvania	220.5	Kentucky	121.2
Illinois	212.2	Alabama	113.3
Ohio	209.2	Virginia	107.8
Louisiana	199.3	New Jersey	105.4
Indiana	188.8	Wisconsin	102.0
New York	175.9	Oklahoma	97.7
Michigan	164.1	Minnesota	95.2

Following are the states that produced the least carbon dioxide:

State	2018	State	2018
Vermont	5.9	Connecticut	37.6
Rhode Island	11.1	Oregon	39.9
Delaware	13.3	Nevada	41.0
New Hampshire	14.3	New Mexico	45.4
Maine	14.8	Nebraska	52.5
South Dakota	15.6	North Dakota	59.1
Idaho	19.0	Utah	61.1
Hawaii	20.5	Maryland	61.7
Montana	30.8	Kansas	62.3
Alaska	35.1	Mississippi	63.4

Following is a state-by-state look at the amount of carbon dioxide produced during 2018 and the previous year, as well as the percentage increase or decrease from the year 2000 and the percentage increase or decrease from 2017:

State	2018	2017	% change from 2000	% change from 2017
Alabama	113.3	109.5	-20.7	3.4
Alaska	35.1	34.4	-21.0	2.1
Arizona	93.9	90.3	8.7	3.9
Arkansas	71.1	64.5	11.5	10.3
California	356.6	355.3	-5.4	0.3
Colorado	90.6	89.3	6.6	1.4
Connecticut	37.6	34.1	-12.5	10.3
Delaware	13.3	13.0	-16.8	2.6
Florida	243.2	239.5	1.3	1.5
Georgia	142.8	142.7	-15.6	0.1
Hawaii	20.5	20.5	9.1	0.2
Idaho	19.0	18.6	21.0	1.8
Illinois	212.2	205.4	-8.9	3.3
Indiana	188.8	176.2	-20.6	7.1
Iowa	82.8	76.9	4.2	7.6
Kansas	62.3	58.5	-17.9	6.4
Kentucky	121.2	115.4	-16.1	5.0
Louisiana	199.3	199.8	-11.3	-0.2
Maine	14.8	15.3	-34.0	-3.7
Maryland	61.7	55.0	-20.5	12.1
Massachusetts	64.6	65.2	-21.8	-0.9
Michigan	164.1	155.9	-15.6	5.2
Minnesota	95.2	91.7	-2.5	3.7
Mississippi	63.4	60.5	3.4	4.7
Missouri	124.7	124.9	-0.7	-0.1
Montana	30.8	30.8	0.8	0.03
Nebraska	52.5	48.1	25.7	9.2
Nevada	41.0	39.7	-9.8	3.2
New Hampshire	14.3	13.6	-18.6	5.1
New Jersey	105.4	99.4	-13.8	6.0
New Mexico	45.4	49.1	-22.1	-7.6
New York	175.9	166.9	-16.9	5.4
North Carolina	124.8	121.6	-16.5	2.5
North Dakota	59.1	56.8	15.3	4.0
Ohio	209.2	205.1	-21.2	1.9
Oklahoma	97.7	93.0	-2.1	5.0
Oregon	39.9	39.1	-2.6	2.0
Pennsylvania	220.5	215.4	-20.2	2.3
Rhode Island	11.1	10.0	-5.30	10.7
South Carolina	73.4	69.3	-9.3	6.0
South Dakota	15.6	14.7	9.8	6.1
Tennessee	94.7	98.2	-25.7	-3.5
Texas	684.0	661.9	1.2	3.3
Utah	61.1	58.8	-6.2	3.8
Vermont	5.9	5.8	-13.2	0.3
Virginia	107.8	103.3	-12.5	4.3
Washington	77.0	77.6	-1.4	0.7
West Virginia	90.0	91.7	-21.7	1.8
Wisconsin	102.0	99.4	-5.7	2.6
Wyoming	63.6	62.6	0.5	1.7
U.S.	5,281.0	5,130.0	-0.1	2.9

Another way of measuring carbon emissions

Because some states are more populous, they produce greater amounts of carbon dioxide. We control for this by measuring the carbon dioxide per capita – metric tons of emissions per person in each state. Following are the 10 states with the lowest per capita carbon emissions:

State	Percapita carbon	State	Percapita carbon
California	9.0	Washington	10.1
New York	9.0	Maryland	10.2
Massachusetts	9.3	New Hampshire	10.4
Vermont	9.3	Rhode Island	10.4
Oregon	9.4	Connecticut	10.5

Following are the 10 states with the highest emissions per capita:

State	Percapita carbon	State	Percapita carbon
Wyoming	109.9	Montana	28.8
North Dakota	77.5	Indiana	28.0
West Virginia	50.2	Nebraska	27.1
Alaska	47.9	Kentucky	27.1
Louisiana	42.8	Iowa	26.2

Which states are improving their carbon footprint? Which aren’t?

Nationally, carbon dioxide emissions have fallen 0.1 percent compared with 2000 levels. However, emissions have risen 2.9 percent across the country since 2017.

The state where levels have fallen the greatest since 2000 is Maine. Following are the 20 states where levels decreased by the greatest amounts since 2000.

State	% decrease	State	% decrease
Maine	-34.0	Pennsylvania	-20.2
Tennessee	-25.7	New Hampshire	-18.6
New Mexico	-22.1	Kansas	-17.9
Massachusetts	-21.8	New York	-16.9
West Virginia	-21.7	Delaware	-16.8
Ohio	-21.2	North Carolina	-16.5
Alaska	-21.0	Kentucky	-16.1
Alabama	-20.7	Michigan	-15.6
Indiana	-20.6	Georgia	-15.6
Maryland	-20.5	New Jersey	-13.8

Unfortunately, levels haven’t gone down in every state. Following are states where carbon dioxide emissions have increased since 2000:

State	% increase	State	% increase
Nebraska	25.7	South Dakota	9.8
Idaho	21.0	Hawaii	9.1
North Dakota	15.3	Arizona	8.7
Arkansas	11.5	Colorado	6.6

There are four states that have experienced a double-digit percentage increase in carbon dioxide emissions since 2017 – Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Arkansas.

Only a few states showed a meaningful decrease in emissions since 2017. The top states for decreased carbon emissions were New Mexico, Maine, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Where does the carbon dioxide originate?

Nationally, transportation is responsible for the largest chunk of carbon dioxide emissions, 36.5 percent. But the generation of electricity is the second-largest offender, with 33.1 percent.

Following is a percentage breakdown by sector for each state’s carbon dioxide emissions:

State	Commercial	Electric power	Residential	Industrial	Transportation
Alabama	2.1%	47.6%	2.0%	19.4%	29.0%
Alaska	5.8%	7.7%	4.2%	49.4%	32.9%
Arizona	3.1%	49.9%	2.4%	5.0%	39.7%
Arkansas	4.9%	52.0%	3.0%	12.7%	27.4%
California	5.5%	9.5	7.0%	19.0%	59.0%
Colorado	4.6%	37.7%	8.8%	14.9%	33.9%
Connecticut	11.5%	21.4%	19.8%	4.9%	42.3%
Delaware	8.3%	19.2%	7.7%	23.5%	41.2%
Florida	2.9%	41.5%	0.6%	5.0%	50.0%
Georgia	3.4%	36.6%	5.5%	9.3%	45.3%
Hawaii	2.5%	31.4%	0.3%	7.0%	58.8%
Idaho	7.6%	6.8%	9.4%	18.2%	58.0%
Illinois	7.1%	31.6%	11.9%	16.1%	33.3%
Indiana	3.2%	47.7%	4.7%	23.6%	20.8%
Iowa	5.2%	35.5%	6.6%	27.9%	24.8%
Kansas	4.2%	37.1%	6.8%	21.5%	30.4%
Kentucky	2.4%	55.3%	2.7%	11.3%	28.3%
Louisiana	1.3%	17.0%	1.1%	61.6%	19.0%
Maine	11.8%	7.3%	20.9%	11.0%	49.1%
Maryland	9.1%	26.5%	10.2%	4.9%	49.3%
Massachusetts	12.2%	11.9%	20.6%	5.4%	49.9%
Michigan	7.0%	35.9%	12.8%	11.7%	32.6%
Minnesota	7.6%	28.1%	10.4%	18.7%	35.2%
Mississippi	2.7%	40.7%	2.6%	18.3%	36.7%
Missouri	4.0%	52.5%	5.8%	6.8%	30.9%
Montana	5.5%	49.2%	5.5%	13.5%	26.3%
Nebraska	4.5%	45.4%	5.3%	17.7%	27.1%
Nevada	5.9%	33.4%	5.9%	9.3%	45.5%
New Hampshire	10.3%	14.4%	21.1%	5.8%	48.5%
New Jersey	10.2%	16.5%	15.0%	8.7%	49.7%
New Mexico	3.8%	40.4%	4.8%	16.8%	34.2%
New York	13.2%	13.9%	20.6%	4.9%	47.3%
North Carolina	4.2%	38.8%	4.4%	8.6%	44.0%
North Dakota	2.0%	51.3%	2.0%	29.3%	15.5%
Ohio	5.9%	37.1%	9.0%	18.6%	29.3%
Oklahoma	3.3%	33.8%	4.3%	25.5%	33.0%
Oregon	6.1%	21.0%	6.8%	11.8%	54.4%
Pennsylvania	5.5%	34.0%	9.8%	23.0%	27.7%
Rhode Island	8.8%	28.5%	20.6%	6.1%	35.9%
South Carolina	3.1%	39.2%	2.8%	10.1%	44.8%
South Dakota	5.6%	18.5%	7.4%	25.4%	43.2%
Tennessee	4.5%	27.6%	4.8%	15.9%	47.1%
Texas	2.2%	29.6%	2.0%	33.9%	32.4%
Utah	4.5%	46.9%	6.4%	11.5%	30.8%
Vermont	15.6%	0.0%	25.0%	7.9%	51.6%
Virginia	5.8%	28.4%	6.1%	11.1%	48.6%
Washington	6.2%	13.2%	7.3%	14.7%	58.7%
West Virginia	2.0%	68.0%	2.0%	13.6%	14.4%
Wisconsin	6.5%	39.1%	9.7%	14.2%	30.4%
Wyoming	1.5%	63.9%	1.5%	20.8%	12.3%
DC	34.1%	0.0%	26.8%	0.1%	38.0%
US	4.8%	33.1%	6.5%	19.0%	36.5%

Where does your state rank among the largest producers?

While generating electricity produces the highest percentage of carbon dioxide emissions in most states, West Virginia sees that to the extreme because of its reliance on coal. Louisiana generates more than half of its CO₂ from industrial uses. See where your state ranks among the largest producers in each sector:

Commercial uses

State	Commercial	State	Commercial
District of Columbia	34.1%	Delaware	8.3%
Vermont	15.6%	Minnesota	7.6%
New York	13.2%	Idaho	7.6%
Massachusetts	12.2%	Illinois	7.1%
Maine	11.8%	Michigan	7.0%
Connecticut	11.5%	Wisconsin	6.5%
New Hampshire	10.3%	Washington	6.2%
New Jersey	10.2%	Oregon	6.1%
Maryland	9.1%	Ohio	5.9%
Rhode Island	8.8%	Nevada	5.9%

Generating electricity

State	Electric Power	State	Electric Power
West Virginia	68.0%	Utah	46.9%
Wyoming	63.9%	Nebraska	45.4%
Kentucky	55.3%	Florida	41.5%
Missouri	52.5%	Mississippi	40.7%
Arkansas	52.0%	New Mexico	40.4%
North Dakota	51.3%	South Carolina	39.2%
Arizona	49.9%	Wisconsin	39.1%
Montana	49.2%	North Carolina	38.8%
Indiana	47.7%	Colorado	37.7%
Alabama	47.6%	Kansas	37.1%

Residential uses

State	Residential	State	Residential
District of Columbia	26.8%	Illinois	11.9%
Vermont	25.0%	Minnesota	10.4%
New Hampshire	21.1%	Maryland	10.2%
Maine	20.9%	Pennsylvania	9.8%
New York	20.6%	Wisconsin	9.7%
Rhode Island	20.6%	Idaho	9.4%
Massachusetts	20.6%	Ohio	9.0%
Connecticut	29.8%	Colorado	8.8%
New Jersey	15.0%	Delaware	7.7%
Michigan	12.8%	South Dakota	7.4%

Industrial uses

State	Industrial	State	Industrial
Louisiana	61.6%	Kansas	21.5%
Alaska	49.4%	Wyoming	20.8%
Texas	33.9%	Alabama	19.4%
North Dakota	29.3%	California	19.0%
Iowa	27.9%	Minnesota	18.7%
Oklahoma	25.5%	Ohio	18.6%
South Dakota	25.4%	Nebraska	17.7%
Indiana	23.6%	New Mexico	16.8%
Delaware	23.5%	Illinois	16.1%
Pennsylvania	23.0%	Tennessee	15.9%

Transportation

State	Transportation	State	Transportation
California	59.0%	Maine	49.1%
Hawaii	58.8%	Virginia	48.6%
Washington	58.7%	New Hampshire	48.5%
Idaho	58.0%	New York	47.3%
Oregon	54.4%	Tennessee	47.1%
Vermont	51.6%	Nevada	45.5%
Florida	50.0%	Georgia	45.3%
Massachusetts	49.9%	South Carolina	44.8%
New Jersey	49.7%	North Carolina	44.0%
Maryland	49.3%	South Dakota	43.2%

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(Last updated August 13, 2021)