Carbon dioxide emissions from energy rose in 18 states and fell in 32 between 2000 and 2010 with Texas showing the greatest absolute decline of 58.8 million metric tons, according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration.
Despite the 8.3 percent drop in emissions, Texas still led the US states in CO2 emissions from energy with 663 million metric tons in 2010, followed by California and Pennsylvania. Nearly half of Texas' emissions came from petroleum fuels in 2010, according to the EIA data.
California produced about 370 million metric tons of CO2 in 2010 with about two-thirds of it generated from petroleum fuels and a third from natural gas.
Nebraska had the greatest percentage increase at 16 percent, or 6.6 million metric tons, while Colorado had the biggest absolute increase of 11.8 million metric tons, or 13.9 percent over a 10-year time span.
From 2009 to 2010, emissions from energy fell in only 14 states as the US rebounded from the recession, the EIA says.
Wyoming generated 118.5 metric tons per capita in 2010, the highest in the nation. The state was also the second-largest energy producer in the US. Unlike the largest energy producer Texas, which has a population of 25 million, Wyoming has less than 600,000 people, making it the state with the lowest population density in the lower 48.
North Dakota had 80.4 metric tons per capita in 2010, the second-highest in the nation.
Earlier this month, the EPA said in a document published in the Federal Register it would not set methane emissions rules for coal mines.
EarthJustice had petitioned the EPA to add coal mines to the Clean Air Act list of stationary sources and use the law to regulate their greenhouse gas emissions, similar to what the agency has proposed in its emissions rules for new power plants issued last year. On April 30, the EPA denied the petition because of “limited resources and ongoing budget uncertainties,” the document says.
A federal appeals court last June upheld the EPA’s limits on GHG emissions from car tailpipes, factories and power plants.
