For Immediate Release: April 21, 1999

New Study Finds Technological Innovation and Economic Growth Have Caused Continuous Improvement in U.S. Environmental Indicators

San Francisco, CA – A new study by the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRI), a San Francisco-based think tank, provides an annual "check-up" on the state of the environment and shows how technological innovation and economic growth throughout the 20^th century have led to the continuous improvement of environmental trends in the United States.

According to Steven Hayward and Erin Schiller, authors of the 4^th annual Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, "using the U.S. government’s own data, we have found that environmental indicators in the areas of air and water pollution, toxic releases, and resources and wildlife have improved significantly."

For instance, the authors found that:

• Ambient air pollution levels decreased significantly between 1976 and 1997: Sulfur oxides by 66.7 percent; nitrogen oxides by 37.9 percent; ozone by 30.9 percent; carbon monoxide by 66.4 percent; particulates (PM10) by 25.5 percent; and lead by 97.3 percent. (Note: The most recent available government data is for 1997.)
  
  
• Releases of toxic chemicals have declined by at least one-third since 1988. The percentage decline is actually higher, but the measurements that are currently used include chemicals that are disposed of in safe hazardous-waste facilities or are recycled on the premises.
  
  
• Although 40 percent of news stories about cancer name man-made environmental factors as a primary cause, only 2 percent of all cancer cases are caused by man-made environmental factors, according to the latest research.
  
  
• Discharges into our nation’s water supply have been near zero since 1993. For example, discharges of toxic organics from "point sources" have declined by 99 percent and discharges of toxic metals from point sources have declined by 98 percent.
  
  
• Forests today cover nearly 30 percent of the United States’ total land area. Since 1950, net growth of trees has exceeded net harvest of trees every year. At least two-thirds of all U.S. deforestation occurred between 1850 and 1910.
  
  
• Wetlands conversion continues to decrease dramatically. For every 60 acres of wetlands converted to cropland annually from 1954 to 1974, only 3 acres were converted annually from 1982 to 1992.
  

The authors of the Index attribute these improvements in environmental indicators to prosperity and progress. "The facts suggest that as the world has become more prosperous, the United States has become wealthy enough to afford high environmental standards, and has developed the political support for environmental protection among its citizens. Having conquered the main causes of human misery – war, famine, and disease – we are now able to concentrate on aspects of our civilization that have hitherto been secondary, such as the environment."

Hayward and Schiller add: "For that reason – to paraphrase former President Jimmy Carter – conservatives need to overcome their inordinate fear of environmentalism. And environmentalists need to overcome their inordinate fear of progress. The two go hand and hand and are not mutually exclusive."

The study concludes that future environmental policy should emphasize markets, property rights, incentives, and cooperation instead of adversarial one-size-fits-all regulatory regimes.

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For more information, including state data, please see Pacific Research Institute’s www site at http//www.pacificresearch.org or contact Laura Dykes at 415/989-0833 x 113.

The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility. The Institute believes these principles are best encouraged through policies that emphasize a free economy, private initiative, and limited government. By focusing on public policy issues such as health care, welfare, education, and the environment, the Institute strives to foster a better understanding of the principles of a free society among leaders in government, academia, the media, and the business community.