Quick: how many “green” businesses exist in Orange County?

An activist group, the Environmental Defense Fund, has a precise answer: 202. That puts us in the top five — behind Los Angeles County, with 398, and San Diego County, at 208, but ahead of Santa Clara, 173, and Alameda, 131.

The group on Wednesday released what it is calling a first-of-its-kind map of California green businesses, with breakouts for various counties. The idea is to provide an eye-catching depiction of green business in California, and, perhaps, subtly encourage members of Congress to work to  increase green business in their districts, said Tim O’Connor, a climate change policy analyst with the group.

 ”We haven’t seen before anybody put together a geographic picture of what the green economy looks like,” O’Connor said.

He wants the public “to be able to both see the clustering of economic growth and green businesses, as well as understand what type of businesses we have out there, and what areas are lagging behind,” he said.

Accompanying the map is a report on how the city of Los Angeles can reduce its envir0nmental impact and improve its “carbon footprint” — greenhouse gas emissions that could contribute to global warming.

The map comes with a few caveats. First, it captures only four categories  — energy generation, energy efficiency, green building and transportation — leaving out many businesses that might make other green lists. There is no category for retail outlets that sell green products, for example, although some such businesses — solar panel providers, for instance — might be on the map because they fit into one of the four categories the group did use.

And even for those categories listed, it probably doesn’t include every business. The map is based on publicly available data. O’Connor says more businesses could be added to the existing categories, and new categories created, in the future.

Still, for what it does offer, it’s pretty handy. You can sort by city, county or congressional district.

(Thumbnail map illustration courtesy Environmental Defense Fund.)

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