Who would have thought that the Empire State could beat out 41 others for the cleanest and greenest environment. Sure, we are no match for places like Vermont, Oregon and Washington (the top three) but when you compare regulatory efforts by state governments, we fare much better than some, like California and Colorado which ranked 14th and 13th respectively. So how did we do it?
From Forbes:
New York
New Yorkers (at least in the city) rely on public transportation and live and work in tight quarters--both great things for the environment. No, the air and water quality in the city is not so good, but overall the state has an exceptionally low carbon footprint (fifth best in the country), second lowest consumption of energy per capita and the fewest vehicle miles traveled (again, per capita) by its residents--another advantage of not owning a car in New York City. New York is also part of the regional effort in the Northeast to establish a market-based system to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
No. 9
Score: 38.1 out of 50
Not only does the state encourage a low carbon impact, but the city government and New Yorkers themselves live in a more environmentally friendly way than those that live in the country. Not driving a car makes a huge impact as does living in a big city. We walk more than most and are blessed with one of the most extensive mass-transit systems in the country, despite its problems.
Heck, we even beat out Arizona.
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