Yes.

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. 

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Sources

References:

Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link

2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link

Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link

Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link

Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link

Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link

Type of Story: Fact-Check

Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.


Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
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