Data / Rankings / Greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory) / US states

US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory)

Texas had the highest greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory) of 51 states in 2012, at 808.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 3.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The median was 106.89 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Highest808.36Texas
Lowest3.24District of Columbia
Median106.8951 states

Map of states, 2012

Alabama: 150.39 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska: 36.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona: 112.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas: 98.32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia: 425.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado: 132.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut: 38.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware: 16.04 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia: 3.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida: 259.72 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia: 160.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii: 18.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho: 31.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois: 265.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana: 234.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa: 126.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas: 116.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky: 174.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana: 226.38 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine: 18.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland: 72.08 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts: 69.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan: 191.76 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota: 133.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi: 76.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri: 165.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana: 52.04 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska: 86.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada: 43.61 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire: 16.87 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey: 106.89 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico: 90.77 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York: 198.38 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina: 148.76 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota: 80.11 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio: 251.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma: 153.15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon: 49.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania: 287.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island: 11.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina: 85.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota: 37.83 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee: 115.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas: 808.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah: 78.86 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont: 8.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia: 119.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington: 79.33 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia: 124.86 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin: 120.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming: 102.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent
  • Under 37
  • 37 to 78
  • 78 to 110
  • 110 to 130
  • 130 to 200
  • 200 and over
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 2012. Source: EPA state greenhouse gas inventory, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2012

Texas: 808.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas808.36California: 425.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia425.24Pennsylvania: 287.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania287.36Illinois: 265.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois265.35Florida: 259.72 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida259.72Ohio: 251.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio251.26Indiana: 234.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana234.65Louisiana: 226.38 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana226.38New York: 198.38 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York198.38Michigan: 191.76 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan191.76Kentucky: 174.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky174.16Missouri: 165.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri165.31Georgia: 160.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia160.46Oklahoma: 153.15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma153.15Alabama: 150.39 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlabama150.39North Carolina: 148.76 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina148.76Minnesota: 133.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota133.97Colorado: 132.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado132.8Iowa: 126.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa126.62West Virginia: 124.86 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia124.86Wisconsin: 120.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin120.78Virginia: 119.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia119.24Kansas: 116.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas116.07Tennessee: 115.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee115.78Arizona: 112.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona112.59New Jersey: 106.89 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey106.89Wyoming: 102.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming102.21Arkansas: 98.32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas98.32New Mexico: 90.77 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico90.77Nebraska: 86.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska86.94South Carolina: 85.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina85.65North Dakota: 80.11 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota80.11Washington: 79.33 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington79.33Utah: 78.86 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah78.86Mississippi: 76.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi76.57Maryland: 72.08 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland72.08Massachusetts: 69.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts69.91Montana: 52.04 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana52.04Oregon: 49.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon49.14Nevada: 43.61 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada43.61Connecticut: 38.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut38.65South Dakota: 37.83 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota37.83Alaska: 36.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska36.91Idaho: 31.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho31.82Hawaii: 18.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii18.9Maine: 18.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine18.25New Hampshire: 16.87 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire16.87Delaware: 16.04 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware16.04Rhode Island: 11.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island11.64Vermont: 8.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont8.21District of Columbia: 3.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia3.24Texas: 808.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas808.36California: 425.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia425.24Pennsylvania: 287.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania287.36Illinois: 265.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois265.35Florida: 259.72 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida259.72Ohio: 251.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio251.26Indiana: 234.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana234.65Louisiana: 226.38 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana226.38New York: 198.38 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York198.38Michigan: 191.76 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan191.76Kentucky: 174.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky174.16Missouri: 165.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri165.31Georgia: 160.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia160.46Oklahoma: 153.15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma153.15Alabama: 150.39 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlabama150.39North Carolina: 148.76 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina148.76Minnesota: 133.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota133.97Colorado: 132.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado132.8Iowa: 126.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa126.62West Virginia: 124.86 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia124.86Wisconsin: 120.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin120.78Virginia: 119.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia119.24Kansas: 116.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas116.07Tennessee: 115.78 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee115.78Arizona: 112.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona112.59New Jersey: 106.89 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey106.89Wyoming: 102.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming102.21Arkansas: 98.32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas98.32New Mexico: 90.77 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico90.77Nebraska: 86.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska86.94South Carolina: 85.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina85.65North Dakota: 80.11 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota80.11Washington: 79.33 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington79.33Utah: 78.86 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah78.86Mississippi: 76.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi76.57Maryland: 72.08 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland72.08Massachusetts: 69.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts69.91Montana: 52.04 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana52.04Oregon: 49.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon49.14Nevada: 43.61 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada43.61Connecticut: 38.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut38.65South Dakota: 37.83 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota37.83Alaska: 36.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska36.91Idaho: 31.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho31.82Hawaii: 18.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii18.9Maine: 18.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine18.25New Hampshire: 16.87 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire16.87Delaware: 16.04 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware16.04Rhode Island: 11.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island11.64Vermont: 8.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont8.21District of Columbia: 3.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia3.24
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: EPA state greenhouse gas inventory, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2012
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent		Change on 2011
1Texas808.36-0.5%
2California425.24+1.9%
3Pennsylvania287.36-4.1%
4Illinois265.35-4%
5Florida259.72-3.1%
6Ohio251.26-7.9%
7Indiana234.65-6%
8Louisiana226.38-2.9%
9New York198.38-3.6%
10Michigan191.76-4.2%
11Kentucky174.16-7.5%
12Missouri165.31-4.5%
13Georgia160.46-9.2%
14Oklahoma153.15-3.6%
15Alabama150.39-4.8%
16North Carolina148.76-6%
17Minnesota133.97-3.1%
18Colorado132.8-2.1%
19Iowa126.62-4.9%
20West Virginia124.86-5.1%
21Wisconsin120.78-5.7%
22Virginia119.24-4%
23Kansas116.07-4.1%
24Tennessee115.78-5%
25Arizona112.59-1.5%
26New Jersey106.89-4.9%
27Wyoming102.21-1%
28Arkansas98.32-1.6%
29New Mexico90.77-4.7%
30Nebraska86.94-5.5%
31South Carolina85.65-6.6%
32North Dakota80.11+3.5%
33Washington79.33-2.8%
34Utah78.86-2.7%
35Mississippi76.57+2.7%
36Maryland72.08-10.5%
37Massachusetts69.91-8.5%
38Montana52.04-9.8%
39Oregon49.14-1.5%
40Nevada43.61+0.2%
41Connecticut38.65-3.2%
42South Dakota37.83-5.9%
43Alaska36.91-2.7%
44Idaho31.82-1.1%
45Hawaii18.9-2.5%
46Maine18.25-11.4%
47New Hampshire16.87-10%
48Delaware16.04+4.3%
49Rhode Island11.64-4.1%
50Vermont8.21-6.4%
51District of Columbia3.24-13.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Gross greenhouse gas emissions of a US state or the District of Columbia, the sum of the transportation, electric power, industry, agriculture, commercial and residential sectors, without the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) net flux.

More on how it is measured
  • In million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases weighted by their 100-year global warming potentials (IPCC AR5), from the EPA inventory of US emissions by state, which allocates the national inventory to the states with the same methods for every state.
  • Emissions are counted where they occur, so electricity is counted in the state that generates it, not the state that uses it.

A separate series from ghg_emissions_total (the EEA inventories of European countries); both leave out LULUCF. EPA says these estimates are not official state data: a state's own inventory can differ because it uses other methods, data or scopes. Each annual edition recalculates the whole series back to 1990.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2025). EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2012) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals

MLA 9

EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2012. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 23 Apr. 2025, https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2012. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2025. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2012. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2012.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2025) EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2012 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{environmental_us_states_by_greenhouse_2012,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2012}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2012. Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
TI  - EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2012
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/04/23
PB  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2012.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory)?

Texas, with 808.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2012, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Which state has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory)?

District of Columbia, with 3.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2012.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings