And that’s not the whole story of North Carolina’s energy progress, thanks to market forces.
But it’s not just that North Carolina is seeing lower energy-based emissions. We’re doing this while continuing to be one of the nation’s fastest-growth states in terms of population.
So I was curious to see how emissions in North Carolina have declined on a per-capita basis. Here’s what I found:
Per-capita emissions from electricity generation in North Carolina, 2000–17
Carbon dioxide: down 50.8%
Nitrogen oxide: down 79.7%
Sulfur dioxide: down 93.5%