The Overlooked Climate Impact of Rural America

A first-ever analysis of emissions sources in our nation’s countryside highlights that U.S. climate action requires rural strategies & investments

The Rural Climate Partnership (RCP) is a funding collaborative that focuses exclusively on advancing rural climate solutions. Over the last two years, RCP has worked to provide rural communities with the tools and opportunities they need to accelerate rural-led and place-based climate solutions that help grow healthy local economies.

When the RCP team realized no publicly available estimates exist on US greenhouse gas emissions based in rural America, we developed a Rural Emissions Analysis to fill this crucial information gap. By better understanding the scale and dispersion of rural emissions, we can elevate and support targeted strategies that support rural climate solutions.

Our analysis found a stark reality: At least 36% of US emissions are produced in rural America, amounting to 2,263 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMT CO2e) annually.

At least 36% of US emissions are produced in rural America, representing 2,263 MMT CO2e

The narrative of US climate impact and action often focuses on the nation’s cities and crowded coasts. However, in the vast expanse of rural and small-town America, there is a story that has been largely untold, one of significant emissions reduction potential shadowed by systematic underinvestment.

Rural America is more diverse and varied than many give it credit for. From spread-out farming communities to towns and small cities, rural America covers 86% of our nation’s land mass and is home to about 18% of the US population. Importantly, 25% of rural residents are people of color.

The emissions impact of rural America is disproportionately large for the population rural America represents.

The emissions impacts of rural America are disproportionately large for the population they represent. Because of this, rural communities face localized air pollution, soil degradation, and environmental harm from higher-emitting activities. This is especially concerning as many of the products that create rural emissions are consumed in cities and suburbs, such as electricity generation.

Despite having a substantial emissions impact, rural America grapples with a dearth of resources needed to reduce emissions, create better jobs, and protect vital landscapes. Indeed, 85% of all counties facing persistent poverty are non-metropolitan rural counties. However, only about 6-7% of all philanthropic funding goes to rural communities, and RCP estimates less than 2% of philanthropic climate funding goes to rural groups. And overall, only a small percentage of federal funding and grants have historically gone to rural America, often due to a lack of capacity or the initial capital necessary at rural-based nonprofits, local governments, and utilities. Of the combined total federal funding appropriations from IIJA, CHIPS, and IRA, 2.3% is rural-exclusive, and another 19.9% is rural-stipulated.

More resources are needed to help rural America build vital infrastructure, create good-paying jobs, and decouple economies from extractive and polluting industries. As our nation and funders rally to mitigate emissions and address the impacts of climate change, it is imperative that the conversation extends beyond urban landscapes to include—and even center—rural America.

Below, we present the findings of our Rural Emissions Analysis. We estimate the rural emissions percentage for each major economic sector, what contributes to these emissions, and briefly overview some ways rural communities can be supported to address the emissions. There is a methodology section below each major economic sector to explain the data sources that were used and the assumptions that were made. There are places where additional modeling could have been used for more precise results but were not, given our internal capacity. Where data was lacking, we made conservative assumptions such that we are confident that the actual rural-based emissions are higher than the percentages used below. We hope this analysis can serve as a starting place for conversation about rural investments in climate solutions and can lead to even more rigorous modeling of emissions in rural America.

As an organization, RCP has developed detailed strategies to address the largest and most persistent sources of rural emissions, but we do not detail these strategies in this report. If you’d like to learn more about RCP and our rural climate work, please reach out.

The chart above shows emissions by economic sector using total US emissions from the EPA’s latest Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Sinks and estimated emissions produced in rural America from the Rural Emissions Analysis.

ELECTRIC POWER:

+47% of emissions are based in rural America

The electric power sector represents 25% of overall US emissions. The Rural Emissions Analysis estimates that at least 47% of all emissions from US power plants are based in rural America, about 737 MMT CO2e.

Rural America produces more energy, and therefore more emissions, than it consumes. Rural electric generation often helps power suburbs and cities. While electricity produced from combustion power plants may leave rural communities, the localized pollution of this generation stays, increasing health and environmental harm for rural people.

Coal, the most carbon-intensive source of electricity generation, is prominent in rural America’s energy mix. According to our analysis, 60% of coal-fired electricity generation is in rural areas. Coal is responsible for only a fifth of US electricity generation but over half of all US electric power emissions.

Decarbonizing the US energy system requires a rural-forward approach. Not only is a disproportionate amount of carbon-intensive energy generation in rural America, but the countryside is where commercial-scale renewable energy must be deployed at scale, and where its already being build.

Through the Rural Emissions Analysis, we estimate that at least 83% of wind, solar, and geothermal has been built in rural areas to date, including 91% of wind and 60% of solar. This number is large but likely a low estimate - given the conservative nature of the analysis (see the Methodology section below to learn more). Rural America is where land resources exist for clean energy development. Rural places, where the US population density is in the lowest quartile, are 75 times more likely to host solar or wind projects. An increasingly large amount of renewables must be built in rural areas in the coming years, including an estimated 90% of solar projects anticipated by 2050.

However, local clean energy bans are halting utility-scale clean energy development in rural America due to an influx of misinformation, such as claims that the sound of wind turbines cause cancer. Already, over 15% of US counties have ordinances that effectively block renewable energy development. The vast majority of these bans are in rural counties that would be especially well-suited for solar, wind, and storage capacity.

Electric Power Sector - Methodology

Total electric power emissions data comes from the EPA’s Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Sinks (EPA Inventory). Data on power plants come from the EPA’s Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID). eGRID lists all power plants by their location, energy source (e.g., coal, oil, wind, biomass), emissions, and generation capacity. We identified census tract and county information for each power plant based on their coordinates using the Census geocoding API.

We then compared the resulting list of census tracts and counties for each power plant with a list of census tracts and counties considered rural by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA’s definition of rural combines approaches from the US Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA). Using HRSA definition, the following areas as considered rural:

All non-metropolitan statistical area counties
All metro census tracts with RUCA codes 4-10
Large area Metro census tracts of at least 400 sq. miles in area with a population density of 35 or less per sq. mile with RUCA codes 2-3
All outlying metro counties without an Urban Area

Even though we believe the HRSA definition is a good approximation for rural America, the HRSA definition is still conservative. Some areas that self-identify as rural and demonstrate strong rural characteristics, still with populations less than 50,000, are not defined as such with HRSA. For example, the area within and around Farmington, New Mexico, which has a 2022 population of 46,127 people, is largely considered non-rural. Only a few census tracts in the area meet the HRSA definition of rural.

Because the HRSA estimate of rural America is conservative, our emissions estimates for Electric Power are also conservative. The emissions from all truly rural power plants could be even greater. The same is true for the power generation estimates for clean energy in rural America. See more in the Appendix for more on the HRSA definition of rural.

AGRICULTURE:

+90% of emissions are based in rural America

Agriculture represents about 10% of US emissions. The Rural Emissions Analysis estimates that 90% of agriculture emissions are based in rural America, about 569 MMT CO2e.

The vast majority of US agricultural emissions come from three top activities: agricultural soil management (i.e., fertilizer application), enteric fermentation from cows, and manure management. Most agriculture occurs in rural America, and the most carbon-intensive means of agriculture are especially land-intensive.

Many emissions connected with agriculture, such as fertilizer manufacturing, are not included in EPA estimates for the sector. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing is responsible for over 40 MMT CO2e in the US. Similarly, all the transportation associated with agriculture is theoretically captured in the transportation numbers and difficult to attribute to rural areas, as noted above. The full reach of agriculture emissions could be much higher; some experts estimate that as much as a third of all US emissions are connected to US agriculture.

Transitioning conventional agriculture to more regenerative practices can meaningfully reduce agricultural emissions, sequester carbon, improve soil health, and create more value for farming communities. Some of the most long-lasting climate-smart farming practices are perennial crops, tree-based agriculture, and well-managed pasture systems. Support for farmers to learn about and implement these practices, alongside capacity support to help rural communities access state and federal agriculture funding, can help farmers make the transition to more regenerative practices while improving their economic realities.

Agriculture Sector - Methodology

Total agriculture emissions come from the EPA’s Inventory. While the vast majority of agriculture is rural, a non-insignificant portion of agriculture is found in areas the HRSA does not consider to be rural. Given that there is not adequate data to match HRSA ruralness to agricultural production, we chose a conservative assumption that 90% of agriculture emissions are from HRSA-defined rural places.

With more time and research capacity, more detailed data on the geographic distribution of agriculture could be used to get a closer estimate of agriculture emissions tied to HRSA-defined rural areas. For example, one could use county-level data on cattle from the USDA 2022 Agriculture Census to estimate emissions of cattle via enteric fermentation and manure management, as these are the largest combined sources of agriculture emissions.

INDUSTRY:

+33% of emissions are based in rural America

The industry sector represents 23% of overall US emissions. The Rural Emissions Analysis found that at least 33% of industry emissions, about 478 MMT CO2e, come from rural America.

As defined by the EPA, the industry sector includes production and processing to create things like iron and steel, electronics, lime, ammonia, petrochemicals, and cement. It also includes industrial landfills, abandoned oil and gas wells, and petroleum and natural gas systems beyond the power sector. Petroleum and natural gas systems industries and cement are two of the top-emitting large facilities found in rural America. According to our analysis, 42% of US industry facilities reported in EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program – 2,150 out of 5,101 – are located in rural areas.

Industry emissions are disproportionately produced in rural places, partly because industries often need access to raw materials, require more space, and might have fewer regulations over their practices than cities. The impacts of intensive industry production are felt in rural landscapes and have a measured impact on local air quality, water quality, and soil health.

Investing in rural workforce development can provide opportunities for rural communities to transition away from limited, polluting industries by creating new pathways for employment, entrepreneurship, and green economic growth. For example, investments in rural community colleges can create green job training opportunities for rural people and open up new, higher-paying, and healthier jobs. Rural economic development efforts can help create alternatives to high-emitting industries, creating greater economic resilience while helping communities become healthier places to live and work.

Industry Sector - Methodology

Total industry emissions come from the EPA’s Inventory. Industry emissions were estimated using the EPA Facility Level Information on GreenHouse gases Tool (FLIGHT). EPA FLIGHT provides data on large facilities in the US that are required to share annual emissions as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Some facilities with less than 25,000 metric tons of annual CO2e emissions are not required to report annual emissions to the EPA.

Some large facilities reported in EPA FLIGHT do not count towards industry emissions - including all power plants (which are represented in the Electric Power sector) and municipal landfills (which the EPA categorizes in the Commercial sector). Removing these leaves a rough estimate of all reported facilities that count as industry. We identified census tract and county information for each facility reported to EPA FLIGHT based on their coordinates using the Census geocoding API.

We then compared the resulting list of census tracts and counties for each industry facility with the list of census tracts and counties considered rural by the HRSA. For an explanation of the HRSA definition, see the Electric Power sector methodology section.

Because the HRSA estimate of rural America is conservative, the emissions estimates for Industry are also conservative. The emissions from all truly rural industry facilities could be even greater. See more in the Appendix for more on the HRSA definition of rural.

Crosschecking the census tracts and county information for industry facilities with the HRSA list of rural census tracts and counties, we found that 2,150 of 5,101 reported industry facilities are located in rural areas. These 2,150 rural-based facilities produce 33% of the total reported industry emissions in the EPA FLIGHT dataset – over 336 MMT CO2e annually.

While EPA FLIGHT data doesn’t represent all industry emissions, given that many small facilities are not included, the numbers provide an approximation. About 68% of all US industry emissions are reported through EPA FLIGHT. For the 32% of industry emissions that are not reported through FLIGHT, we assume that a similar 33% come from rural areas, mirroring the distribution seen in reported emissions. This is likely a conservative estimate for the non-reported industry emissions, as some smaller but extremely potent sources of emissions, like methane leaks from oil and gas production, are predominantly based in rural America.

TRANSPORTATION:

+20% of emissions are based in rural America

The transportation sector represents 29% of overall US emissions. The Rural Emissions Analysis estimates that at least 20% of transportation emissions come from rural America, about 409 MMT CO2e.

The transportation sector includes everything from light-duty passenger vehicles to semi-trucks, trains, airplanes, and ships. Given the inherent movement of people and goods via transportation, many of these emissions are hard to pin to a single place. Light-duty vehicles are one area of transportation where new research from the nonprofit Coltura has successfully tied transportation emissions to geographic locations.

Beyond light-duty vehicles, very little data exists to help estimate the transportation emissions tied to rural America. For other areas of transportation, such as medium- and heavy-duty trucks, the Rural Emissions Analysis makes very conservative population-based estimates (see the Methodology section below for more details). The Analysis attempts to focus on transportation emissions generated by rural people in rural places. However, if we were to attempt to include the emissions from everything transportation from and through rural places, the percentage attributed to rural America would be significantly higher.

Regarding rural light-duty passenger vehicles, Coltura's 2024 Country Crossroads report found that rural drivers consume 25.6% of all US light-duty vehicle gasoline despite being only 18.8% of US drivers. Top rural drivers, representing just 3.6% of all US drivers, consume 12.5 billion gallons of gasoline — which is nearly as much or more gas than the entire gasoline use of Russia, India, Japan, or Canada.

Rural residents have limited public transit options and longer distances between home, work, school, services, and leisure activities, making them rely on personal vehicles. Due to their mobility needs, rural drivers also face significant financial hardships, with many spending as much as a quarter of their household income on gas alone. Supporting top rural drivers to switch to EVs could have enormous climate benefits while also addressing economic inequities. Coltura estimates that switching top rural drivers to EVs could help avoid 76 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually while helping rural drivers save $4,000 a year on fuel costs.

A major way to at least address the emissions from light-duty vehicle use in rural America is with electric vehicles (EVs). Increasing rural communities' access to and interest in electric vehicles (EVs) can reduce rural transportation emissions while saving rural drivers on fuel costs. Targeted rural engagement and marketing can help drivers see EVs as attractive and affordable alternatives and help ensure they can access rebates and tax incentives. In addition, greater investments in rural EV charging infrastructure can help make a transition more viable for rural drivers.

Transportation Sector - Methodology

Coltura’s 2024 Rural Crossroads Report provides a baseline to identify how much gas, and by extension emissions, come from rural light-duty vehicles. Coltura uses the HRSA definition of rural in their analysis of rural drivers and Superuser drivers. We used the Coltura report and total transportation emissions from the EPA’s Inventory to estimate the emissions from rural drivers. In total, we estimate that 365 MMT CO2e comes from rural light-duty vehicles.

For medium- and heavy-duty trucks (23% of US transportation emissions) and rail (2% of US transportation emissions), we assume that 18.5% of associated emissions are connected to rural America. We came to this approximation as it represents a proportional amount of emissions based on the population of rural America (18.5%). For aircraft (8.6% of US transportation emissions), boats, and other transportation forms, we assume that 4.6% of the emissions are connected to rural America. We came to these approximations conservatively, as they proportionally represent a quarter of the population of rural America. Altogether, the other transportation emissions assumed to be from rural America equal 101 MMT CO2e.

Our conservative assumptions about emissions from other forms of transportation produce conservative emissions estimates, given the considerable miles driven in rural places and how much medium- and heavy-truck activity centers in rural areas. However, in the absence of more data on where and how other forms of transportation intersect with rural America, we believe these conservative assumptions offer at least a helpful direction. More research is needed to understand the full impact of transportation and transportation emissions in rural America.

RESIDENTAL & COMMERCIAL:

+13% of emissions are based in rural America

Combined, the residential and commercial sectors represent 13% of overall US emissions. The Rural Emissions Analysis estimates that at least 13% of combined residential and commercial emissions come from rural America, about 113 MMT CO2e.

Emissions from the residential and commercial sectors come from direct in-building uses, such as natural gas, propane, fuel oil, and kerosene used for space heating and cooling, water heating, and other household and business uses. This does not include emissions from electricity generation used in residential and commercial spaces, as these are already included under the Electric Power sector. For the commercial sector, emissions also include emissions from municipal landfills, municipal wastewater treatment, anaerobic digestion at biogas facilities, and fluorinated gases used in air conditioning and refrigeration.

The Rural Emissions Analysis found that 19% of total residential emissions come from rural America. While residential emissions are about proportional to the percentage of rural people in the US, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) estimates that rural households spend 25%, or $452 dollars, more on household energy than non-rural households annually. Higher energy costs in rural America are likely due to the energy sources used in more remote places. For example, propane delivered by truck is much more expensive than natural gas delivered by an urban and suburban pipeline system – and rural households use 80% of the propane used across all US households.

The Rural Emissions Analysis estimates that at least 12% of total commercial emissions come from rural America. Reported municipal landfills to the EPA represent about 18% (82.5 MMT CO2e) of total Commercial sector emissions (449.6 MMT CO2e). Using the HRSA definition of rural, we estimate that 31% of reported municipal landfills are based in rural America. For the rest of commercial emissions, we assume that a conservative 9% come from rural America. With more data, future analyses may find that the rural proportion of commercial emissions is actually much greater.

Improved energy efficiency and electrification measures can help reduce emissions and energy costs for rural America for residents and small business owners. Rural areas have been left behind by cities and coastal regions in harnessing the benefits of energy efficiency and electrification, even though economic benefits from these measures would make a huge difference for rural people. Along with paying 25% on household non-electric energy, there is an urban-rural pay gap of 23%, and rural people experience economic distress at disproportionately higher rates. More targeted support to help rural people access federal and state rebates for electrification and energy efficiency measures and install them in their homes can help address these gaps.

Residential and Commercial Sector - Methodology

Total residential and commercial sector emissions were sourced from the EPA’s Inventory.

Detailed information about residential energy use – excluding electricity use – comes from the EIA’s RECS, which provides data up through 2020. The RECS data provides residential energy consumption by fuel types (electricity, natural gas, propane, and fuel oil or kerosene), Btu, fuel units, and expenditure for the US. RECS data includes estimated energy consumption by rural and non-rural households, using the definition of rural and non-rural provided by the Census. As residential household energy use is not disaggregated further by EIA to allow us to use the HRSA definition of rural, we use the data provided by EIA directly to get values for rural America.

Using the EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalencies and the EIA’s RECS data, we get an estimate for emissions produced through energy consumption in all households. Rural households produce slightly more emissions than non-rural households when excluding electricity: on average, rural households produce 3.334 metric tons of CO2 annually, while non-rural households produce 3.303 metric tons of CO2 annually.

For commercial energy use, we used one data source on emissions and made an assumption for the rest of commercial emissions. Reported emissions from municipal landfills, as identified in EPA FLIGHT data, represent 19% (82.5 MMT CO2e) of total Commercial sector emissions. Of these reported landfill emissions, 31% are based in rural America based on a crosswalk of municipal landfill locations with HRSA-defined rural areas. For the rest of commercial sector emissions, we assume that 9% of US commercial emissions come from rural America. We came to this approximation conservatively, as it proportionally represents half of the rural population. While EIA does have a 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), it does not provide any geographic disaggregation beyond Census regions (Northeast, South, etc.) like the RECS data. Further research and analysis would help create a more comprehensive estimate of commercial building emissions in rural America.

Unlocking Rural America's Potential

Through the Rural Emissions Analysis, the Rural Climate Partnership estimates that at least 36% of emissions are produced in rural America despite rural America only representing 18% of the US population. At its core, our research identifies what many rural people already know: rural people are not bystanders in the climate crisis; they are active participants who are being directly affected.

The disproportionate emissions produced in rural America show that there is a huge potential and need for rural climate solutions. Effective solutions require the dedication and ingenuity of rural people themselves—the hard-working individuals, small businesses, and farmers who intimately understand their local landscapes and economies. Change must be rooted in the rural experience and tailored to the specific contexts and the unique priorities of rural America.

To bolster rural climate solutions, ongoing and explicitly rural investments from state and federal governments, philanthropy, and the private sector are necessary. Resources can help fund infrastructure development and job creation around renewable energy and cleaner industries, provide initial capital for farmers to pursue regenerative practices, and help rural residents and businesses electrify their homes and vehicles. In particular, philanthropic support to rural organizers and advocates can help amplify local grassroots campaigns, creating meaningful state and local policy changes that enable climate action across rural economic sectors.

Through ongoing partnerships with rural communities, we can help unlock much-needed emissions reductions while fostering stronger local economies, creating more jobs, and protecting rural landscapes.

Lead Author: Maria Doerr, RCP Program Officer
To learn more about ways to advance rural climate solutions, feel free to reach out
to the Rural Climate Partnership at info@ruralclimate.org.

Appendix

A. Methodology: Defining Rural America

There are numerous ways to define rurality, and each one has a significant impact on the populations and places that are considered rural.

The two most commonly cited definitions of rural come from the US Census Bureau (Census) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Each definition of rural has its own limitations. The Census definition does not follow city or county boundaries, making it hard to determine if an area is urban or rural, and classifies some suburban areas as rural. The OMB definition includes some rural areas in counties determined to be metropolitan. For example, the Grand Canyon is in an OMB-defined metro county.

For the Rural Emissions Analysis estimates for the Electric Power and Industry sectors, we used the definition of rural used by the HRSA that combines the definitions from the Census and the OMB along with the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA). Using HRSA’s definition, the following areas as considered rural:

All non-metropolitan statistical area counties

All metro census tracts with RUCA codes 4-10

Large area Metro census tracts of at least 400 sq. miles in area with a population density of 35 or less per sq. mile with RUCA codes 2-3

All outlying metro counties without an Urban Area

Even with the HRSA definition, some areas that are generally considered and self-identify as rural, with populations less than 50,000, are not defined as such. For example, the city of Farmington in New Mexico, which as of the 2020 census has a population of 46,624 people, is considered a metropolitan statistical area by OMB and only a few census tracts within the county meet the RUCA code requirements to count towards HRSA’s definition of rural.

We believe that the HRSA’s estimate of rural America is conservative, and therefore the emissions estimates for Electric Power and Industry are also conservative. The map below shows how counties across the US fall within the HRSA definition.

B. Data access

There are places where additional modeling could have been used for more precise results but were not, given our internal capacity. Where data was lacking, we made conservative assumptions such that we feel confident that the actual rural-based emissions are higher than the percentages assumed in the analysis.

Data for each of the interactive maps and charts in this report can be accessed directly in a link below each map/chart where it says "Get the Data."

A publicly available version of the Rural Emissions Analysis model is linked here. You will be prompted to provide your email to Request Access - once you are approved, you will be able to view and download our Excel model.

If you have any questions about our approach and methodologies, please reach out to our team at info@ruralclimate.org.

C. References

Center on Rural Innovation. (2022). Defining rural America. https://ruralinnovation.us/blog/defining-rural-america/

Chakrabarti, R., Emanuel, N., Garcia, D., Lahey, B., & Pinkovskiy, M. (2023). Earnings. In Economic Research. https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/Research/Interactives/Data/equitable-growth-indicators/downloads/10_2023_EGI_national_earnings.pdf?sc_lang=en&hash=AE4F92C3ACDD18BF930EE40706AF464D

Coltura. (2024). County Crossroads Report - Rural Drivers' Gasoline Use and Benefits of Switching to EVs. https://coltura.org/country-crossroads/

Davis, C., Cromartie, J., Farrigan, T., Genetin, B., Sanders, A., Winikoff, B., & US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2023). Rural America At a Glance 2023 Edition (EIB-261). US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/107838/eib-261.pdf

Earthjustice, Rosenberg, N., & Lehner, P. (2022). Farming for our Future: Opportunities abound. Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/experts/nathan-rosenberg/farming-for-our-future-climate-change-agriculture

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2023a). Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (EGRID). https://www.epa.gov/egrid

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2023b). Facility Level Information on GreenHouse gases Tool (FLIGHT). http://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2024a). Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References | US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2024b). Inventory of US greenhouse gas emissions and sinks | US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks

Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). (2022). Defining Rural Population. https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural

Menegat, S., Ledo, A., & Tirado, R. (2022). Greenhouse gas emissions from global production and use of nitrogen synthetic fertilisers in agriculture. Scientific Reports, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18773-w

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2025). Solar futures study. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/Solar%20Futures%20Study.pdf

O’Shaughnessy, E., Wiser, R., Hoen, B., Rand, J., & Elmallah, S. (2023). Drivers and energy justice implications of renewable energy project siting in the United States. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2022.2099365

US Census. (2023). Geocoding Services Web Application Programming Interface (API). https://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/Geocoding_Services_API.html

US Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2023a). 2020 RECS Survey Data. https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/index.php

US Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2023b). Carbon Dioxide Coefficients. https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/co2_vol_mass.php

USDA Economic Research Service. (2015). Foundation giving to rural areas in the United States is disproportionately low.https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2015/august/foundation-giving-to-rural-areas-in-the-united-states-is-disproportionately-low/

USDA Economic Research Service. (2023). Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-commuting-area-codes/

Weise, E., & Bhat, S. (2024). Across America, clean energy plants are being banned faster than they’re being built. USA-TODAY.https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/04/us-counties-ban-renewable-energy-plants/71841063007/

Report: The Overlooked Climate Impact of Rural America

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