• American household emissions come primarily from driving, electricity and home heating. Outside of America’s low-car outlier, New York, emissions from driving range from an average of 22,500 pounds of carbon dioxide per year in places like Providence and Boston (reflecting about 1,000 gallons of gas bought each year) to an average of 32,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year in places like Greenville, S.C.

• Carbon emissions from San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, California were the lowest among American metropolitan areas, but “are still more than four times the emissions in the brownest Chinese city (Daqing) and 10 times as high as the household emissions in the average Chinese city.”
• The average household in San Francisco uses about seven megawatt hours of electricity per year, which is associated with about 7,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. The average household in Orlando, Fla., or Memphis, Tenn., uses about 18.5 megawatt hours of electricity per year and that creates about 26,400 pounds of carbon dioxide.

• Average July temperatures are the best predictor of electricity usage.
• Home heating is the third major source of household emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions from that source range from less than 1,000 pounds per year in Florida cities, to more than 16,000 pounds per year in Detroit.

Source: New York Times