Yale/Columbia study: U.S. #28 in environmental health

"Good governance emerges as a critical factor in environmental performance." — Daniel C. Esty, Director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy

A recent study comparing the environmental health of 133 nations ranks the United States 28th in the world, trailing Chile, Colombia, Japan, Malaysia, Slovakia, and Taiwan, as well as most of Western Europe. The winner for best environmental performance by a sovereign nation is — drum roll, please — New Zealand, followed by Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Austria.

Compiled by researchers at Columbia and Yale Universities, the Environmental Performance Index measures how well nations are doing in areas such as air, water, energy, biodiversity, and habitat. The study's authors also compare each nation with its geographic and economic peers. When clustered with 29 financially similar countries, the United States landed close to the bottom, at number 23.

(For the whole article, go here.)