While visiting London, Donald Trump told Prince Charles that the United States had the world's cleanest climate. Of course, it was just another of Trump's thousands of lies. He either doesn't know the truth about the U.S. environment, or doesn't care -- probably both.The truth is that Trump has been one of the worst environmental presidents this country has ever had. He, and his cabinet appointees, have eliminated regulations that previous presidents put in place to protect the environment. For him, the bottom line for his corporate buddies is far more important that worrying about the environment. And thanks to Trump administration actions, many other countries, especially developed nations, are doing a better job protecting their environment than the United States is doing.
The chart above is the Environmental Performance Index of countries. Yale University, Columbia University, and the World Economic Forum, in a collaborative effort developed this index. They studied 180 different countries in 10 broad economic categories, and gave each a rating of from 0 to 100. The average of those 10 categories was used to develop the overall Environmental Performance Index (shown in the chart above). Note that 26 other countries are doing better than the United States. The United States is ranked 27th with a score of 71.19.
Here are the United States rank and score in each of the 10 categories:
Water and sanitation (29th).....90.92
Air quality (10th).....97.52
Heavy Metals (54th).....64.99
Biodiversity and habitat (103rd).....70.93
Forests (115th).....8.84
Fisheries (67th).....57.58
Climate and energy (114th).....45.81
Air pollution (83rd).....50.46
Water resources (39th).....92.57
Agriculture (2nd).....72.38
This is not good! But it doesn't have to be this way. The United States is still the richest nation in the world. It has the ability to do much better. The problem is a president and Congress (mainly Republicans) who value money more than the environment or the health of citizens.
