Shouldn't the USA be number 1 instead of 23 on this list?

PARIS (AFP) - Nordic countries take the greatest care of their environment and their people, according to a ranking published on Thursday by the publication Reader%26#039;s Digest.

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Finland comes top of the 141-nation list, followed by Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and then Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia.

At the bottom of the list is Ethiopia, preceded by Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Chad.

The United States comes in 23rd, China 84th and India 104th.

The ranking combines environmental factors, such as air and water quality, respect for biodiversity and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as social factors, such as gross domestic product, access to education, unemployment rate and life expectancy.

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Maybe taking care of your citizens is not such a bad thing afterall!

Shouldn%26#039;t the USA be number 1 instead of 23 on this list?rate my teacher

What the hell is wrong with you ????/

It is NOT in America%26#039;s NATIONAL INTERESTS (READ PROFITS) to look after their environment nor their own people for this is NOT THE AMERICAN way .The American way is individualism and the survival of the fittest .Caring about the environment is an outright COMMUNIST plot to endanger your omnipotence in the world and looking after your own people is only something that people like that idiot Christ would have done when He told us to look after %26quot;..the least among you%26quot; .

Americans prefer to be monumental stinking hypocrites than actually believing all that Christ crap like %26quot;Blessed are the peacemakers%26quot;.

THE RICHEST NATION IN THE WORLD AND YOU FRIGGIN American Christian hypocrites HAVE OVER 47 MILLION OF YOUR CITIZENS WITHOUT MEDICAL COVERAGE.

YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOURSELVES as you drive around in your dispicable GAS GUZZLING SUVs spewing all your filth into the environment and not giving a bloody damn as to the consequences .

Shouldn%26#039;t the USA be number 1 instead of 23 on this list?

loan

Of course we should be at the top of the list, if we really are the best country in the world.|||Many of the countries ranked higher than the US have fewer automobiles on the road. America is still about the almighty dollar and developers are cutting down the trees to build strip malls all over the area where I live. Another problem here is the fact that there are more murders in the US and more people killed in automobile wrecks. Frankly I was surprised that the US was ranked as high as it is.|||Of course countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway are at the top of the list: They have virtually zero manufacturing to worry about polluting the environment, including less cars on the road.|||I wonder if you know that according to the yearly PISA surveys on education, Finland also ranks No 1 for Europe and is right there at the top in the world. U.S. also occupies something like 25th or 26th(can%26#039;t recall exactly right now)place in education.

Maybe they are raising smarter kids in Finland who grow up to be more intelligent adults?

additional notes:

1. an answerer above is a perfect example of our education system.he claims that the nordic countries don%26#039;t have much industry to speak of !

The lumber industry and the paper industry are huge going concerns in Sweden and Finland. Sweden is also the manufacturer of well known automobiles such as VOLVO and others. One of the greatest electrical appliance companies in the world is Swedish(ELECTROLUX)...and so on and so forth.

2. to murnip(below)who asks why the questioner thinks we should be No1. Obviously because we have the most money in the world and that begs the question:do we spend it wisely? (on education? on protecting our environment? etc etc or do we squander it in Iraq(just one example of irresponsible spending of our tax$$$$)?|||It%26#039;s striking how the phrase %26quot;take care of us%26quot; keeps appearing in the question.

I don%26#039;t need or expect anyone else to take care of me. I am an adult. I take care of myself.|||Why do you think it *should* be no. 1?|||We aren%26#039;t citizens, we are %26quot;human resources%26quot; to be used in the most efficient manner to generate the greatest profit and if that means our well being is not at the top of the list that%26#039;s just too bad but no one in charge really cares.|||If we stopped Feeding and producing medicine to keep those other places alive we could perhaps jump to number3. It will only cost the lives of millions of Poor, Good Idea perhaps your lord satan will give you a medal and a nice tree to sleep under.....|||I agree. It is not a bad thing at all, and it never could be. I just visited the page you provided a link to, and I discovered something interesting that I had never heard of before. I went to that Bill Maher debate page, and listened to my favorite candidate, Mike Gravel. It was by listening to him answer a question that Bill Maher asked him, that I learned of the National Initiative Bill. So I googled nationalinitiative.us, and I found that it is all about giving the power back to the people.

You should check it out. The more people who check this out, the better. Spreading the word about it, is key to its success! *sm*|||Many want to take care of the environment but they%26#039;re worry about higher taxes and more regulation. They%26#039;re just willing to let their planet rot before they are taxed more.|||Funny how so many people from all over the world try to come to America. If the study you quote here is valid, then lots of people from all those superior countries have been badly fooled into thinking America is a better place to live, and it seems like by now they would have figured out what you know about how bad America is and would have learned to not keep coming here. Either your study is a lie, or you are saying all those foreigners are too stupid to know how bad America is even though they have had so many years to learn and to say that would be a politically incorrect insult to another equally valid and worthy culture so you can%26#039;t do that. I wonder why they still come here ?|||Possibly. We%26#039;re only going to move further down the list though if the illiberals keep inviting more illegal aliens to flood the United States.