WalletHub ranks Connecticut Sixth Greenest

Bravo, Connecticut! We shine in the latest WalletHub rankings. Although, weirdly, Maryland ranks one above us overall, we are numero uno for climate change contributions! Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions are all lowest in our great state.

The other two metrics used to judge greenness were environmental quality and eco-friendly behaviors. Senator Bernie Sanders' beloved Vermont ranked first for eco-friendly behaviors and Hawaii, not surprisingly, boasts the highest environmental quality. Connecticut came in 8th for environmental quality and 11th for eco-friendly behaviors.

Blue states overall are far greener, the study shows. Democratic-led states rank 14.92 on average for greenness, while Republican states come in at an average of 36.08. The lower the number, the greener the category or state. Other sub-categories examined water, air, LEED-certified buildings, percentage of renewable energy consumption and energy consumption.

One of the researchers on the study, Joseph Tainter, PhD, an environmental professor at Utah State, stressed localizing what we mean by environmental quality. He said, "If people are asked to change their lifestyles in the interest of the environment, then to maintain local support people need to see local results. Policies that might work in California will be different from policies in the Louisiana Bayou." Leaders, Tainter said, need to understand their people as well as their environment and "aggregate up" to nationalizing their results.

Read the report here.