Connecticut Green Living

We could do better but we could also do a lot worse. A couple weeks ago, personal finance website WalletHub released its report on the year's Greenest States. "In order to showcase the states doing right by Mother Earth , WalletHub compared the 50 states in terms of 28 key metrics that speak to the current health of the environment and residents’ environmental-friendliness," their press release says. "The data set ranges from green buildings per capita to the share of energy consumption from renewable resources." Our 10th place ranking mirrors a similar ranking from SmileHub , 11th in sustainable development. Unfortunately, we are slipping: in 2023 we ranked sixth , in 2024 ninth . Asked to explain why we've been slipping, WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo told me, "While Connecticut continues to do well in addressing climate change , ranking second in that category, its overall environmental quality has slipped noticeably, from eighth in 2023 to 11th i...

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 ...