Lone Star State Wins Pollution Distinction Award
As that old state tourism advertisement used to say, "Everything's bigger in Texas." Assuming you're speaking in stereotyped generalities, this is mostly true. The state itself is big, first of all. That's verifiable (with maps). The same goes for lots of stuff inside the state, like ranches, state fairs, trucks, steaks, livestock shows - you can find some really big versions of these things in Texas. We even have the 10-gallon cowboy hat, which is bigger than your standard 8-gallon model that cowboys in other states wear (lame). And now, thanks to a recent research project, it looks like the Lone Star State has one more big thing to brag about: Our carbon dioxide emission rate. Yee-haw!
Recently, the Associated Press analyzed the 2003 carbon dioxide emissions of each state (these were the latest U.S. Energy Department numbers available). What they found is that Texas leads the pack by a staggering margin, emitting more carbon fumes than the next two biggest emitters on the list combined, California and Pennsylvania, which together hold twice Texas' population. Evidently, the burning of coal for energy generation is mostly to blame for this type of pollution, an industrial practice that is very popular in Texas.
"Man, that's big!" you might have just said out loud. Yessir, bigger than the rest. Only in Texas. Austinist suspects this will be merely the first in a long series of distinctions awarded to Texas thanks to its "bigger" amount of pollution. Watch out, big Texas comin' through!
*Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
