Environmental news
Houston receives frightful ranking on list of greenest cities in U.S.
Houston did not fare well in a new environmental study.
Bad news, Houston. The Bayou City is the third worst metro when it comes to the country's greenest cities.
According to WalletHub's recently released Greenest Cities in America report, Houston is No. 98 out of 100 of the largest cities that were ranked in the study, which was based on information from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Trust for Public Land, U.S. Department of Energy - The Alternative Fuels Data Center, and more.
“There are plenty of things that individuals can do to adopt a green lifestyle, from recycling to sharing rides to installing solar panels on their homes. However, living in one of the greenest cities can make it even easier to care for the environment, due to sustainable laws and policies, access to locally-grown produce and infrastructure that allows residents to use vehicles less often," says Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst, in the report. "The greenest cities also are better for your health due to superior air and water quality.”
Houston scored 36.88 points out of 100, and comes in dead last on the environment ranking. Here's how the city performs when it comes to the other metrics:
- No. 87 for transportation
- No. 52 for energy sources
- No. 61 for lifestyle and policy
- No. 91 for greenhouse-gas emissions per capita
- No. 30 for percent of green space
- No. 86 for median air quality index
- No. 97 for annual excess fuel consumption
- No. 56 for percent of commuters who drive
- No. 39 for walk score
- No. 33 for farmers markets per capita
The big winners on the report are mostly on the West Coast. Of the top 10, six cities are from California. These are the greenest cities, per the report:
(1) San Diego, California
Washington, D.C.
Honolulu, Hawaii
San Francisco, California
San Jose, California
Seattle, Washington
Oakland, California
Portland, Oregon
Fremont, California
(10) Irvine, California
Texas isn't seen on the list until Austin, which ranked No. 26. The rest of the major Lone Star State major metros include San Antonio at No. 44, Fort Worth at No. 76, and Dallas at No. 81.
While this report is pretty damning, there's not a general consensus that all hope is lost for Houston when it comes to being green. Last year, the city was ranked as having the lowest carbon footprint, based on a report from Park Sleep Fly.
However, WalletHub's report has pretty consistently ranked Houston low on the list. Last year, Houston was slightly higher up at No. 95. In 2022 and 2021, the city claimed the No. 93 spot.
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A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site EnergyCapitalHTX.
