A new study from the Center for Global Development looks at the greenhouse emissions footprints for households in the US. The data is based on 52 types of spending (e.g. electricity, gasoline, apparel, beef, air travel etc.) The map below shows the results by zip code. The conclusions are intuitive - that the suburban lifestyle generates the most emissions - but it's good to have some hard data:
“The average GHG footprint of individuals in the top 2% of the income distribution is more than four times that of those in the bottom quintile. The highest GHG footprints are found in America’s suburbs, where relatively inefficient housing and transport converge with higher incomes. Rural areas exhibit moderate GHG footprints. High-density urban areas generally exhibit the lowest GHG footprints, but location-specific results are highly dependent on income.”
