How does each state lead the nation in environmental failure? That’s a rather tough question for 7:29 on a Monday morning in the summer. Ah but this blog has never shied away from taking on the tough ones. To be fair, it’s easy to tackle the tougher topics when you’re not worried about ratings, readership, or profits. I’ve always maintained an ad free atmosphere here. Not so much out of principle, but rather lack of interest from anyone willing to pay. If you’ve enjoyed any of this blog’s excruciatingly researched posts and would like to reward the writer please feel free to visit the where to purchase section of this site.
That sad attempt at laying on guilt complete let’s get back to the question at hand. How do you define a state’s biggest environmental failure? Should the answer focus on the environmental dangers in each state, human impact on the wild, human inspired disasters, or environmental impacts on humans? How about a little of each?
I found today’s map on Joan Ellen Cornell’s blog, which doesn’t list an ultimate source.
Environmental Failures by US Sate
Some of these raise more questions than they answer. Why does every state in New England lead the country in a different type of cancer. Is this a function of the people living there or their environment? Some of our best hospitals are in that region. Maybe those hospitals detect (and cure?) more cancer than hospitals do in other regions? Another indictment that sounds bad, but could be good. New Jersey leads the nation in Superfund sites. Does that mean New Jersey has the most toxic sites? Maybe, but it could also mean that New Jersey has been the most proactive in identifying and addressing its toxic waste sites.
Feel free to share what surprises you the most in the comments section.
As always thanks for reading.
Armen