Solar power adoption and a high number of zero-emission vehicles get part of the credit

California continues to perform well on the Next 10 Green Innovation Index, which measures how well the economy performs with the state's climate goals as a backdrop.

California's green technology industry continues to perform well when measured against the rest of the U.S.

The state is also doing well on some metrics when compared to the world's top industrial nations.

The Green Innovation Index tracks emissions, energy, innovation and economics.

The report found a dramatic jump in solar capacity and the use of zero-emission vehicles in California.

That increase was especially prominent in the San Diego-Carlsbad region, which ranked second in the state in the amount of commercial and residential solar capacity.

RELATED: San Diego First To Hit Solar Power Cap In California

The nonpartisan group Next10 compiled the report with Beacon Economics.

Beacon's Adam Fowler said the report found California is growing economically without a lot more pollution.

"In the old days, emissions and pollution were directly tied to your economic output. As one went up, often times the other was hand in hand with it," Fowler said. "And as the report shows, California continues a decoupled relationship between those two metrics."

San Diego had the fourth most green-tech patents among the state's 26 largest metropolitan regions. The local region also ranked fourth in number of clean vehicle rebates.

Noel Perry, the founder of Next Ten, said California is efficient when it comes to how the state uses electricity.

"From a world perspective we are a leader in terms of reducing the emissions that come about as a result of economic activity. And from a renewable resource perspective we are leading all other states," Perry said.

The report credits California's legislative efforts to control climate change, as one reason the state ranks so high on the Innovation Index.



FEATURED PODCAST KPBS' daily news podcast covering local politics, education, health, environment, the border and more. New episodes are ready weekday mornings so you can listen on your morning commute.





Sign up for Today's Top Stories newsletter Need help keeping up with the news that matters most? Get the day's top news — ranging from local to international — straight to your inbox each weekday morning. Enter your email address

Erik Anderson

Environment Reporter

I focus on the environment and all the implications that a changing or challenging environment has for life in Southern California. That includes climate change, endangered species, habitat, urbanization, pollution and many other topics.

To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader.