According to analysis by the Associated Press of state-by-state emissions of carbon dioxide from 2003, the latest U.S. Energy Department numbers available, the state of Texas as the highest carbon emissions in the country. The review shows large differences in states' contribution to climate change with the biggest contribution coming from the burning of high-carbon coal to produce cheap electricity.

The AP says that Texas puts out more of the greenhouse gas than the next two biggest producers combined, California and Pennsylvania, which together have twice Texas' population. It contributes almost 1.5 trillion pounds of carbon dioxide yearly, more than every nation in the world except the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Germany.

However, Wyoming spews more carbon dioxide on a per-person basis than any other state or any other country: 276,000 pounds of it per capita a year, thanks to the burning coal that provides nearly all of the state's electrical power. And in North Dakota, power plants produce 68 percent more carbon dioxide than New Jersey, a state with 13 times the population of North Dakota.

"Some states are benefiting from both cheap electricity while polluting the planet and make all the rest of us suffer the consequences of global warming," Frank O'Donnell, director of the Washington environmental group Clean Air Watch, commented in the article. "I don't think that's fair at all."

For more information on the AP's analysis, check out the article Blame coal: Texas leads in carbon emissions.