Study Ranks U.S. 28th on Environment

A pilot study by Yale and Columbia universities ranked the U.S. 28th in environmental performance. The 2006 Environmental Performance Index ranked countries based on sixteen indicators related to environmental health, air quality, water resources, productive natural resources, biodiversity and habitat, and sustainable energy. New Zealand scored first among all countries, earning 88 out of 100 possible points. Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, the U.K., and Austria also scored 85 points or higher. The U.S. scored 78.5 points, coming in behind most of Western Europe, Canada, Malaysia, Japan, Costa Rica, Colombia, Australia, Taiwan, and Chile. The full report is online at www.yale.edu/epi/.