Carbon footprint ranking for 100 U.S. cities

Honolulu, Los Angeles have the smallest carbon footprint among U.S. cities

Honolulu, Los Angeles and metropolitan Portland have the smallest carbon footprint among American cities, while Cincinnati-Middletown area, Indianapolis, and Kentucky’s Lexington-Fayette have the worst, according to a new report that analyzes carbon emissions from transportation and residential energy use by city dwellers.

The Brookings Institution study, released Thursday, shows that residents of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. emit on average 2.47 metric tons of carbon per person per year, 14 percent less than the 2.87 ton average for the country. But the research revealed large differences in per capita energy use in cities across the U.S.

“Residential density and the availability of public transit are important to understanding carbon footprints, as are the carbon intensity of electricity generation, electricity prices, and weather,” the Brookings Institution said in a statement.

“Numerous market and policy distortions inhibit metropolitan actors from more aggressively addressing the nation’s climate challenge. Economy-wide problems include underpriced energy, underfunded energy research, missing federal standards, distorted utility regulations, and inadequate information,” the statement continued. “Policy impediments include a bias against public transit, inadequate federal leadership on freight and land-use planning, failure to encourage energy- and location-efficient housing decisions, and the fragmentation of federal transportation, housing, energy, and environmental policies.”

All metro areas with the largest per capita footprints were located in the east-central and eastern United States in 2005, while most of the metro areas with the smallest per capita footprints were located in the west.

The report recommends federal policy measures to reduce the carbon footprint of cities, including: promoting more transportation choices to expand transit and compact development options; introducing more energy-efficient freight operations with regional freight planning; requiring home energy cost disclosure when selling and “on-bill” financing to stimulate and scale up energy-efficient retrofitting of residential housing;
using federal housing policy to create incentives for energy- and location-efficient decisions; and issuing a metropolitan challenge to develop innovative solutions that integrate multiple policy areas.

Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America

Per capita carbon emissions from transportation and residential energy use, 2005

Credits

Rhett Butler Editor

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Carbon DioxideCarbon FootprintEcological FootprintEnergyEnvironmentFossil FuelsGreenSustainabilityUnited States

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