Thursday, May 29, 2008

indy steps in it

the indy star is reporting that, thanks to our sprawling geography and prodigious use of coal, indianapolis has the second-largest carbon footprint in the country, per capita!

we're number two!

what's more, all the rest of the top 5 are within a 2-3 hour drive from here: lexington, ky; cincinnati; toledo; louisville. this is one dirty, hard-drivin', coal-burnin' region.

4 comments:

varangianguard said...

It doesn't send up any warning flags to anybody that LA is "2nd best" on this list?

stAllio! said...

this is per capita, not overall. LA is more polluted, but it has 10x more people. plus, california has tighter auto emission standards (with regular mandatory emissions testing) and more hybrids/electrics on the road. rather than the dirty coal we burn here, california power comes largely from natural gas, with far more "green" power than we have here.

so no, i don't have trouble believing that LA is much greener than we are per capita.

Anonymous said...

in california, you can't get your car registration renewed unless you pass a smog check; it's been like that ever since i can remember. i never even thought about that not being the case here.

varangianguard said...

Good catch, stAllio!. I missed the per capita bit.

virago, it used to be that way around here. I can't remember if it lasted ten years, though.

You won't like it, but it was too much trouble, both to administer and for drivers.