ENVIRONMENTAL COMPARISON OF THE U.S. TO OTHER RICH NATIONS
The following statistics demonstrate that the U.S. is the most
polluting nation in the First World. Except where otherwise footnoted,
all statistics are taken from the international encyclopedia Where We
Stand (cited above).
Travel on public transportation as a percent of all travel: Japan 18% Finland 16 Denmark 15 Portugal 14 Germany 11 Norway 9 United Kingdom 8 Netherlands 8 United States 1 Annual air miles per person: United States 1,698 Canada 1,105 Netherlands 1,014 United Kingdom 902 Norway 829 Sweden 575 Finland 506 Denmark 476 Japan 425 Germany 344 Average price of a gallon of gas: Sweden $4.85 Denmark 4.46 United Kingdom 3.56 Germany 3.05 Netherlands 3.02 Japan 3.01 Canada 1.40 United States 1.07 Energy Units of oil burned annually: United States 791.5 European Community 501.4 Japan 234.3 Germany 108.5 United Kingdom 81.3 Canada 80.4 Netherlands 24.1 Sweden 16.3 Finland 11.1 Norway 9.3 Denmark 9.0 Carbon dioxide released per person per year: United States 5.8 tons Canada 4.8 Germany 3.2 United Kingdom 2.9 Japan 2.2 OECD Europe 1.8 Total Carbon Monoxide emitted annually: United States 60,900 tons Canada 10,100 Germany 8,926 France 6,198 United Kingdom 5,264 Sweden 1,754 Netherlands 1,229 Norway 649 Switzerland 621 Percent of all greenhouse gases emitted annually: (1) United States 21% Former USSR 14 European Community 14 China 7 Brazil 4 India 4 Rest of the world 36 Total chlorofluorocarbons emitted annually: United States 332 million tons Japan 95 Germany 71 United Kingdom 67 Canada 34 Netherlands 17 Switzerland 10 Denmark 6 Finland 6 Sweden 4 Norway 1 Major oil spills (1976-89): United States 16 France 6 United Kingdom 5 Japan 4 Canada 2 Sweden 2 Finland 1 Germany 1 Forests cleared (thousands of cubic yards): United States 808,421 Canada 379,500 France 95,964 Sweden 84,612 Finland 72,864 Japan 57,272 Norway 14,810 United Kingdom 6,600 Acid rain (the lower the pH number, the worse the acidity): Japan 3.9 pH Sweden 4.1 United States 4.3 Canada 4.3 Norway 4.4 Denmark 4.5 Finland 4.5 Netherlands 4.9 United Kingdom 5.1 Energy Units of coal burned annually: United States 458.0 European Community 299.0 Germany 73.9 Japan 73.2 United Kingdom 64.0 Canada 27.6 Netherlands 8.1 Denmark 5.5 Finland 4.1 Sweden 2.5 Norway 1.0 Debris inhaled per person per year: United States 81 pounds Finland 44 Sweden 44 Europe 26 Netherlands 24 Germany 24 Denmark 20 Norway 15 United Kingdom 11 Japan 2 Government spending on pollution control (percent of GDP): Japan 1.17% Netherlands 0.95 Canada 0.89 Germany 0.78 Sweden 0.66 United Kingdom 0.62 United States 0.60 Norway 0.54 Finland 0.52 Municipal waste per person per year (kilograms) (2) United States 864 kg. Canada 632 Japan 394 United Kingdom 353 Germany 331 France 304 Italy 301 Percent of all glass recycled: Netherlands 50.3% Japan 49.6 Germany 41.2 Sweden 40.0 Denmark 31.0 Finland 30.0 United Kingdom 27.0 Norway 21.1 United States 20.0 Percent of all paper and cardboard recycled: Netherlands 62.0% Japan 54.4 Germany 37.0 Denmark 32.0 United Kingdom 13.0 United States 8.4
Exception footnotes:
1. NASA, IPCC Scientific Assessment of Climate Change, 1992.
2. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France,
Environmental Indicators, 1991.
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