How green is your governor?

As part of Greenopia’s mission to keep consumers (and voters) informed on issues of eco-friendly importance, Greenopia recently released its findings from the Greenest Governors project that reveals which state governments are most dedicated to preserving the environment. The US Constitution preserves the notion that America is a federation of sovereign states and legal powers not specifically granted to the federal government are retained by the states. This means that Governors and state legislatures hold significant sway over state-based green initiatives and policies. “We looked at all 50 governors in the US and compared their policies, transparency, and interest group ratings and ranked them. It was a monumental task,” said Doug Mazeffa, Greenopia’s director of research. “Greenopia readers want to know which Governors are the eco-leaders, neutral or laggards, and especially identify those making repeated eco-gaffes.” Data for this study was collected from each governor’s own web pages and cross-checked against credible sites such as VoteSmart and OnTheIssues. Energy and emission data was collected from the Department of Energy and the environmental platform data for each political party was collected from either the DNC or RNC’s main site. “Over the past few years we have begun to see certain states emerging as environmental leaders,” remarked Gay Browne, Greenopia founder and CEO. “Those states enacting environmental laws stricter than federal guidelines have gone to greater lengths to protect the environment and to create more sustainable development, including green jobs.”