I was surprised to learn from Newsweek that we have surpassed even pre-Colombian indigenous cultures as conscientious stewards of our natural resources. To contend that "The environment is healthier than ever" is patently absurd and an indication that, in addition to recently changing its layout, Newsweek has dispensed with fact-checking. While America's rivers, lakes, and skies have, for the most part, improved over the past three decades, they have hardly "been transformed". For additional insight, review current fish-consumption advisories in some of this country's most tourist-oriented states. And although acid-rain levels may have dropped 60 percent since the 1990s, their effects have been frustratingly persistent in the Northeast where acid-rain byproducts like methyl-mercury are concentrated in fish and waterfowl. Although we have made significant gains, our life support system remains burdened by any number of pollutants (PCBs, fertilizers, pesticides and solvents, to name a few), and Newsweek's suggestion that the environment has never been healthier is disinformation at its worst.
The Environment is Healthier Than Ever
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Activists are reluctant to crow, since climate change remains a huge threat. But over the past three decades America's rivers, lakes, and skies have been transformed. Acid-rain levels have dropped 60 percent since the early 1990s; air quality has improved 91 percent since 1980 in terms of lead content. The Hudson River "is much, much cleaner than it's been in 100 years," says Riverkeeper's Phillip Musegaas. Greens can be a little less blue.
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