State Residential Carbon Dioxide Emissions Among Nation’s Highest

HARTFORD (AP) — While Connecticut fights to implement tighter emissions standards for cars, new data suggests the state may have a larger problem with carbon dioxide emissions from homes.

Connecticut released 9.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from its homes in 2003, the second-highest rate of residential carbon dioxide emissions per capita in the nation, according to data from the national Energy Information Administration.

By contrast, the state had the third lowest rate of carbon dioxide emissions per capita from transportation, despite putting 17.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air from vehicles.

Overall, Connecticut released less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per capita than 40 other states, according to the data.

“I think overall Connecticut is a pretty efficient state,” said Chris Nelson, a senior air pollution analyst with the state Department of Environmental Protection. “I think one of the areas where we still are kind of left scratching our head a little bit is the home heating and the commercial heating.”

The high residential emissions rate can be traced to Connecticut’s reliance on heating oil in the winter. The only state that ranks higher than Connecticut is another cold-weather state — Maine.

“Oil has a much higher carbon footprint than using natural gas for heating would,” said Mr Nelson. “The emissions you see for the residential sector has a lot to do with heating, and we use a lot of oil to heat in Connecticut.”

In fact, three of every four households using oil to heat their homes are located in the Northeast, according to the federal government. Environmental groups say the state could be doing more to address the problem.

“Every one of our neighboring states has programs to help residents use less fuel in the winter, by insulating and upgrading their homes,” said Roger Smith, coordinator of the Connecticut Climate Coalition. “Connecticut has almost nothing on natural gas and absolutely nothing on home heating oil. So if you heat your home with oil, nobody is going to help you buy a better boiler or insulate or anything.”

In May, Governor M. Jodi Rell joined California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in calling on the federal government to do more about the problem of greenhouse gases. But their call focused on tailpipe emission standards.

California applied in 2005 for a waiver that would exempt California from the federal Clean Air Act, allowing it to more aggressively regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants.

Under the federal Clean Air Act, California can enact its own air pollution standards and other states such as Connecticut may follow if California receives a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Connecticut has already adopted the stricter limits, and would immediately impose them should California be granted the waiver. Last month, Gov Schwarzenegger said his state will sue the EPA if it does not act soon on the state’s request.

The EPA held its first hearing into the waiver request last week.

Mr Smith said it’s good that Connecticut is fighting for the tougher vehicle standards, but he said residents should not be encouraged just because Connecticut has a lower emissions rate than most other states.

“What we know is that emissions are actually rising in every sector, so we’re heading in the wrong direction,” he said.

According to the Federal Energy Information Administration, carbon dioxide emissions in the United States and its Territories were 6,008.6 million metric tons (MMT) in 2005, 19.9 MMT (0.3 percent) more than in 2004. The slow growth in emissions from 2004 to 2005 can be attributed mainly to higher energy prices that suppressed demand, low or negative growth in several energy-intensive industries, and weather-related disruptions in the energy infrastructure along the Gulf Coast.

As a result, while the economy grew by 3.2 percent, energy consumption fell overall by 0.3 percent.