Andrew Calhoun, Jr. / 1-30-08 / 1:51 PM / Current Event #3 / Pollution
Based on a new international ranking system, that rates how well a country protects it's environment from pollution, the United States placed at the bottom of the top 8 group of industrialized nations and ranked 39th out of the 149 countries that were subject to the survey. The ranking system, which measured sanitation, greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural policies, air pollution and 20 more categories to generate an overall score, gave the US a ranking of 81 out of 100 based. The test determined that the primary problem for the US in regards to pollution is it's greenhouse gas emissions and it's treatment of smog. A statistic in the article credits the US with 25% of the new releases of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the article attempts to reveal to readers that the US is concerned with this condition. One chairman at the White House says to have brought this issue to President Bush 5 years prior to this and claims to have a program that going to address these problems coming within the next 10 years or so. Other countries that ranked low as well include India and China, who ranked among the bottom 25 nations in the indicator that combined all the climate change scores.
I wish this article went alittle more into detail about the program the White House plans to institute to curb our greenhouse gas emissions. I mean, I see some changes occuring like more fuel efficent cars that cut down on emissions, however I don't see an effort to directly confront this problem.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/washington/23enviro.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=pollution&st=nyt&oref=slogin
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