Just a day after Tu Bishvat comes word that the United States continues to receive poor grades on environmental issues. The New York Times reports:
A new international ranking of environmental performance puts the United States at the bottom of the Group of 8 industrialized nations and 39th among the 149 countries on the list…
The United States, with a score of 81.0, he noted, “is slipping down,� both because of low scores on three different analyses of greenhouse gas emissions and a pervasive problem with smog. The country’s performance on a new indicator that measures regional smog, he said, “is at the bottom of the world right now.�
He added, “The U.S. continues to have a bottom-tier performance in greenhouse gas emissions.�
But there’s good news, too. We’re not as bad as the Belgians.
Belgium (78.4) continued to rank near the bottom of the 28 European nations.
“Belgium remains a shock,� said Professor Esty, who said the heavily industrialized country, riven by centuries-old ethnic quarrels, was 57th among the 149 nations. “Of those ahead of them, only 10 are richer,� he added.
