Recently the Cool Climate Network, a coalition of research professors and students at the University of California Berkley successfully mapped the carbon footprint of all U.S. zip codes using data gathered over a period of four years. The findings were troubling, but not unexpected as the United States is responsible for 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse emissions.
When minimizing the data, the Arizona Republic reported that State-wide the zip code which boasted the highest level of carbon pollutant locally was the zip 85045, which belongs to residents of Awatukee Foothills.
For reference, the population of this zip code is 77,061 and the median household income of $87,575, according to 2010 U.S. Census data filed on Phoenix.gov.
Lead Researcher, Christopher Jones recently spoke to reporters at the Arizona Republic and gave insight into why the findings may have been as such. Jones said that the relatively large size of mean residential property in the area combined with the distance of these residential sectors from business sectors (where people need to commute to work) has contributed to the high readings in this particular zip code. He went on to say that desert cities in general will have large carbon footprints when factoring in the energy use to cool homes to suitable levels. Residents who were interviewed agreed with this assessment.