Switzerland #1, US #39 on Environmental Performance Index

The 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) was launched Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The Index, produced by a team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University, found that Switzerland tops the global list of countries ranked by environmental performance."

"The 2008 Environmental Peformance Index (EPI) ranks 149 countries on 25 indicators tracked across six established policy categories: Environmental Health, Air Pollution, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Productive Natural Resources, and Climate Change."

According to the EPI, the United States ranks 39th, behind such countries as Norway, Sweden, and many other European nations, Japan, Canada, Iceland, Malaysia, Brazil, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, just to name a few.