WASHINGTON — While cities are hot spots for global warming, people living in them turn out to be greener than their country cousins.
Each resident of the largest 100 largest metropolitans areas is responsible on average for 2.47 tons of carbon dioxide in energy consumption each year, 14 percent below the 2.87 ton U.S. average, researchers at the Brookings Institution say in a report being released today.
Those 100 cities still account for 56 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide pollution. But their greater use of mass transit and population density reduce the per person average. “It was a surprise the extent to which emissions per capita are lower,” said Marilyn Brown, a professor of energy policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-author of the report.
Metropolitan area emissions of carbon dioxide are highest in the eastern U.S., where people rely heavily on coal for electricity, the researchers found. They are lower in the West, where weather is more favorable and where electricity and motor fuel prices have been higher.
The study examined sources and use of residential electricity, home heating and cooling, and transportation in 2005.
Lexington, Ky., had the biggest per capita carbon footprint: Each resident on average accounted for 3.81 tons of carbon dioxide in their energy usage.
At the other end of the scale was Honolulu, at 1.5 tons per person.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area came in at No. 6 on the smallest-footprint list. The shared Oregon and Washington area of Portland, Vancouver and Beaverton came in at No. 3.
Carbon dioxide, released from burning fossil fuels, is the leading greenhouse gas. About 6.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released into air annually in the United States.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
