Are Colorado’s per capita carbon emissions among the highest in the world?

While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7. 

Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8. 

Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.