States that burn coal for power including Wyoming, Texas and Pennsylvania rank high in the amount of CO2 they contribute to the atmosphere. That's according.... States that burn coal for power including Wyoming, Texas and Pennsylvania rank high in the amount of CO2 they contribute to the atmosphere. That's according to a state-by-state analysis by the U.S. Energy Department. Wyoming and Texas were by far the largest polluters, with Pennsylvania and California tied for a distant third place.

The problem isn't only coal however. The vaste expance that is Alaska contributes greatly (on a per person basis) due to a great degree of travel by car and air. Alaska is likely to be one of the states most affected by flooding caused by global warming. Another place you might never think of as a heavy polluter, North Dakota contributes 68 percent more carbon dioxide than New Jersey, which has 13 times North Dakota's residents.

If you want to limit your carbon footprint, living in a city and driving less is important, but moving to a cleaner-burning state (one professor quoted had moved from Wyoming to Washington to reduce his footprint) can result in a large and immediate reduction. That's may be somewhat simplistic, however given that Wyoming is one of the largest energy exporters to other states. If you live in a high-CO2 contributor state, drive less, live small and write your legislators about limiting emissions or adopting alternative, clean-burning energy sources.