A Tale of Two States

The state in the darkest shade of blue on the map above is New York. In New York in 2009, per person energy consumption was 196 million BTUs. This was the most efficient number, as a state, in the nation.

The state in the darkest shade of orange on the map above is Wyoming. In Wyoming in 2009, per person energy consumption was 956 million BTUs. This was the most inefficient number, as a state, in the nation

The fact that New York was the most efficient state in 2009 isn’t that surprising. New York had, and still has, a lot of great financial incentives for energy efficiency in place. And there’s no real surprise that Wyoming came in where it did either, though some incentives and policies are in place in the state to encourage efficiency and renewables. What really struck us after looking at the map and the per-person data, is the size of the gap between #1 and #51 (including DC) and the apparent positive results of good policy. States known to have good energy policy show up in blue right across the country.

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