The Capital District has landed right smack in the middle of a survey ranking residential carbon emissions in the nation's 100 biggest urban centers. The study, conducted by the Brookings Institution, ranked the region at 51, with 2.52 tons of carbon emissions per person (.3 over the national average), reports the Times Union.

The Capital District could reduce its carbon footprint by expanding mass transit and making homes energy efficient.While being average is nothing to balk at, it certainly leaves the door open forlocal and state legislators and community members alike to make some needed improvements.

The Capital Region, which encompasses Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schoharie counties, was ranked lower than its neighboring cities of Buffalo, Poughkeepsie and Rochester. The report did not specify what caused the differences; however, it speculates that it has to do with increased sprawl in the capital region, relatively low levels of bus ridership and the lack of availability to rail transit. Cold winters also drove the score down due to fuel emissions from home heating systems.

The report also included recommendations for urban centers to reduce their carbon footprints including increasing federal aid to expand mass transit, encouraging energy-efficient updating of existing homes, expanded research and development into less-polluting alternative fuels and focusing housing development closer to urban centers.