New Hampshire, Vermont Among Greenest States

By Eagle Times Staff
Most Americans should be green with envy of Vermont and New Hampshire according to a report released Tuesday by ConsumerAffairs.

The report ranks states based on their renewable energy generation as a percentage of total energy generation, emissions per capita, CO2 emission rate, waste generated per capita, and percentage of waste recycled or composted, based on information from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Earth Engineering Center at Columbia University.

Vermont ranked first in the survey and New Hampshire placed ninth.

“The Green Mountain State lives up to its name,” ConsumerAffairs stated in its release.

“Vermont has the lowest emissions per capita, and nearly 100% of electricity comes from renewable energy sources — more than any other state can claim.”

In New Hampshire, 14.3% of electricity came from renewable sources during the survey period. Vermont emissions per capita were 0.06 tons of CO2 per person and New Hampshire residents generated 1.87 tons per person.

“Our economy is very tied to natural resources, from our seasonal recreation businesses to farming, and there seems to be a prevailing sense that those resources require some protection,” said Jennifer Rushlow, Dean of the Vermont School for the Environment at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Vermonters do have a reputation for being environmentally friendly, and it’s true they recycle more than average. “But at the political level, it is more complicated,” Rushlow said.

Rounding out the top ten are: Washington (second), Oregon, Maine, South Dakota, California, Idaho, Maryland and Minnesota. The bottom five are: Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.

New Hampshire and Vermont neighbors New York and Massachusetts placed 12th and 13th in the study, respectively.

While the data used in the study from the EPA is from 2021, data from Columbia University is from 2011 to 2014.