Environmentalism by State
By Taylor Marvin
The Mother Nature Network has an interesting graphic depicting which environmental statistics states rank the worst at:
This is an interesting concept, but a little unfair:
- Alaska’s many airports are necessary because of its huge size and low population density, and it’s likely that all of Alaska’s small bush-plane airports release less CO2 than one large international airport.
- Hawaii would probably lead the nation in most endangered species even in the absence of humans. Islands are notorious for high extinction rates caused by geographic isolation and reduced intraspecific competition. While the advent of humans has obviously had a major adverse impact on Hawaii’s biodiversity, it’s a bit unfair to label the worst state in the US for species protection because it’s so vulnerable to begin with.