Texas is world’s seventh biggest polluter

A love affair with vast, gas-guzzling 4×4 vehicles and contempt for environmental activism has helped Texas become the world’s seventh biggest polluter.

The challenge facing the green lobby in America is illustrated by the latest figures for the Lone Star state from the US Energy Information Administration.


In 2003, Texas pumped 670 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – more than countries including Britain and more than that of California and Pennsylvania, the second and third-ranking US states – put together.

As other states such as California and New York introduce measures to address global warming, there is little evidence of fiercely independent-minded Texas following suit.

The “big is better” philosophy is deeply entrenched in many of Texas’s 23.5 million citizens and its pollution figures have only prompted scattered calls for reform within the state.

Rick Perry, its governor, has expressed doubt as to whether global warming is a man-made problem and his Republican colleagues have refused to make carbon emission reduction a priority.

As other states attempt to limit car use, Mr Perry is trying to

Telegraph