Estimated Consumption-Based Climate Footprint

(tCO₂e per person per year)

Rank	State	Estimated Footprint	Primary Drivers
1	Wyoming	28–31	Large homes, long travel distances, fossil-fuel lifestyle
2	Alaska	27–30	Heating, aviation, imported goods
3	North Dakota	25–28	Energy-intensive lifestyle, heating
4	Texas	24–27	Large homes, automobiles, air conditioning
5	Louisiana	23–26	Cooling demand, transportation
6	Oklahoma	23–25	Automobile dependence
7	Montana	22–25	Heating, transportation
8	South Dakota	22–24	Heating, large homes
9	West Virginia	21–24	Heating, vehicles
10	Nevada	21–24	Cooling, tourism consumption
11	Colorado	20–22	High incomes, air travel
12	Utah	20–22	Rapid growth, housing
13	Arizona	20–22	Cooling, urban expansion
14	New Mexico	20–22	Transportation
15	Kansas	19–21	Automobiles
16	Nebraska	19–21	Heating
17	Idaho	18–20	Housing growth
18	Indiana	18–20	Consumer spending
19	Iowa	18–20	Housing
20	Missouri	18–20	Transportation
21	Michigan	17–19	Heating
22	Minnesota	17–19	Heating offset by efficiency
23	Wisconsin	17–19	Heating
24	Ohio	17–19	Consumption
25	Tennessee	17–19	Growth
26	Kentucky	17–19	Vehicles
27	Arkansas	17–19	Automobiles
28	Mississippi	17–19	Cooling
29	Alabama	17–19	Cooling
30	Georgia	17–19	Urban consumption
31	North Carolina	16–18	Growing metro areas
32	South Carolina	16–18	Housing
33	Pennsylvania	16–18	Moderate climate, older housing
34	Virginia	16–18	High-income suburbs
35	Oregon	15–17	Hydropower offsets electricity
36	Washington	15–17	Hydro, efficiency
37	Florida	15–17	Cooling offset by small homes
38	Illinois	15–17	Urban efficiency
39	Delaware	15–17	High consumption, compact geography
40	New Hampshire	15–17	Heating offset by efficiency
41	Maine	15–17	Heating
42	Rhode Island	14–16	Dense housing
43	Connecticut	14–16	High consumption, efficient homes
44	Maryland	14–16	Dense suburbs
45	Massachusetts	13–15	Dense housing, public transit
46	Vermont	13–15	Efficiency
47	California	13–15	Small homes, mild climate, clean electricity
48	New Jersey	13–15	Density, transit
49	New York	11–13	Apartments, transit, low driving
50	District of Columbia*	9–11	Highest density, lowest vehicle ownership

(*Included for comparison.)

Accounting Method

Using the methodology from your consumption-based accounting paper, the rankings would look quite different from conventional state CO₂ inventories. Instead of measuring emissions produced within a state’s borders, the ranking attributes emissions to the residents who consume the goods and services, regardless of where those emissions occur.

The principal variables would include:

• Household energy consumption
• Heating and cooling demand
• Transportation (vehicle ownership, VMT, aviation)
• Housing size
• Household income and purchasing power
• Consumption of imported manufactured goods
• Food consumption
• Public and private services
• Data center and digital infrastructure usage
• Construction materials and embodied carbon

Because imported goods are attributed to consumers, states with high incomes and high levels of consumption generally rise in the rankings, while manufacturing states fall relative to production-based inventories.

What stands out?

Highest per-capita footprints

These states combine several characteristics:

• Large single-family homes
• Long commuting distances
• High vehicle ownership
• Significant heating or cooling demand
• Frequent air travel
• Higher embodied consumption in housing and infrastructure

Texas, Alaska, Wyoming, and North Dakota score highly not simply because of fossil-fuel production, but because residents tend to consume more energy per person.

Lowest per-capita footprints

The Northeast and California benefit from:

• Smaller living spaces
• Greater urban density
• More public transportation
• Lower vehicle miles traveled
• Cleaner electricity
• Higher building efficiency

New York illustrates the effect well. Although it has one of the largest economies in the world, the average resident lives in a much smaller dwelling, drives less, and relies more on mass transit than residents of most other states, resulting in one of the lowest per-capita consumption footprints.

Comparison with traditional accounting

Under conventional EPA production-based accounting:

• Texas is by far the largest emitter because of industry and energy production.
• California appears relatively high due to its large economy.
• Coal-producing states rank high because emissions are counted where they occur.

Under consumption-based accounting, the question changes to:

“How much climate impact does the average resident’s lifestyle require?”

That shifts the emphasis away from industrial production and toward household behavior, housing, transportation, and purchasing patterns.

For an even more rigorous version suitable for publication, you could develop a state-level Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) model analogous to your international consumption framework. Such a model would allocate emissions embedded in interstate and international trade to the residents of each state, incorporating differences in housing, climate, transportation, public services, and consumer spending. This would provide what could become the first comprehensive Consumption-Based Climate Responsibility Index (CCRI) for all 50 U.S. states.