世界經濟論壇（World Economic Forum）23日發表的污染控管與天然資源管理指標評比結果，149個評比國家之中，美國是第39名，排名在厄瓜多爾及阿爾巴尼亞之後。
2008年的環境績效指數（Environmental Performance Index，EPI）是根據25項指標進行評比，這項評比是由美國耶魯大學環境法律與政策中心以及哥倫比亞大學地球研究所共同進行，自2002年開始每2年彙編一次。
EPI分成6個類別，分別為環境健康、空氣污染、水資源、生物多樣性與棲地、具生產力的天然資源以及氣候變遷。
此項評比的首席作者是耶魯大學環境法律與政策中心主任艾斯提（Dan Esty）教授。他表示：「美國在飲水、環境衛生、森林管理的議題獲得高分；但在因應影響自然及二氧化硫排放等氣候變遷、臭氧氣體污染的政策項目上卻無多少建樹。」
艾斯提指出：「歐洲民眾非常驚訝美國的名次居然可以排上第39名，因他們耳聞美國在溫室氣體排放的情況是非常糟。但是美國民眾卻是十分驚訝，我們的排名居然落在39名的低名次，美國民眾以為我們是全世界環境議題的引導者。事實上，美國在溫室氣體排放的表現上一直都處在全球之末。」
排名前4名的都是歐洲國家，依序為瑞士、瑞典、挪威、及芬蘭，其他排名在前段的歐洲國家中奧地利、拉脫維亞、法國、冰島、德國、英國及斯洛維尼亞分別位居第6、8、10、11、13、14及第15名。
A ranking of 149 countries based on indicators of pollution control and natural resource management released today at the World Economic Forum puts the United States in 39th place, behind Ecuador and Albania.
Compiled every two years since 2002 by the Yale University Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the 2008 Environmental Performance Index is based on 25 indicators.
These indicators are grouped into six categories - environmental health, air pollution, water resources, biodiversity and habitat, productive natural Resources, and climate change.
Lead author Professor Dan Esty, who directs the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy says, "While the U.S. has high scores on some issues - drinking water, sanitation, forest management - we have very weak results on a number of issues including policies to address climate change, ozone air pollution affecting nature, and sulfur dioxide emissions."
"In Europe, people are shocked that the U.S. ranks as high as 39th as all they hear about are our poor results on greenhouse gas emissions," Esty said today. "Within the U.S., people are shocked to hear that we rank as low as 39th as everyone assumes that we are the world's environmental leaders."
"The U.S. continues to have a bottom-tier performance in greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
The top four countries are all European, with Switzerland ranked first and Sweden, Norway and Finland in the next three slots. Other European countries also rank high such as Austria - 6th; Latvia -8th; France - 10th; Iceland - 11th; Germany - 13th; UK -14th; and Slovenia - 15th.
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