Think our natural resources are going to hell? Not according to the latest data.

Stories such as the “ten most endangered rivers,” or the “ten worst cities for smog” often make news even though misleading or distorted. It is therefore useful to consider a more upbeat top-ten list of environmental trends, all based on the latest government data.

One, air quality is improving, and will continue to improve. Since 1970, aggregate emissions of the six “criteria” pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Acts have declined 29 percent, at the same time that the U.S. economy grew 150 percent, auto travel increased by 143 percent, and total U.S. energy consumption (the primary source of air pollution emissions) increased 45 percent. This is due to improved technology, turnover of the auto fleet to lower polluting engines, and new regulations of public utilities.

Two, water quality is also improving. Water quality is measured very poorly and inconsistently in the U.S. but several measures indicate substantial improvement. Wetlands loss has virtually ended, for example.

Three, we are not running out of energy. The inflation-adjusted price of gasoline, even with the turmoil in the Middle East pushing up oil prices, is near an all-time low. Other energy supplies, especially coal and natural gas, remain abundant.

Four, we do not face increased danger from toxic chemicals. The total amount of toxic chemicals used in the U.S. economy is declining, and the best evidence from new Centers for Disease Control studies suggests that human exposure to toxic heavy metals is far below the thresholds for health risk. While much further study is needed, there does not appear to be an imminent threat from “bioaccumulative” chemicals. Residues of DDT in human tissues have fallen 80 percent in the last generation.

Five, economic growth is good for the environment. In the 1970s many leading environmentalists argued that economic growth was incompatible with a healthy environment. But more and more environmentalists are coming to acknowledge that economic growth is the main prerequisite for an improving environment, and international data show that the nations with the most robust economies have the best record of environmental protection.

Six, environmental issues aren’t just for experts anymore. Many citizens think environmental issues are too complicated to understand, or that accurate information is hard to obtain. On the contrary, there is an abundance of user-friendly government information available on the Internet. Much of it is highly localized, offering powerful tools to empower citizens who wish to be pro-active in improving the environment in their town or region.

Seven, the most important new initiatives in the environment are taking place on the local level and through private initiative. Environmental discourse tends to give the impression that unless the federal government acts, the environment won’t be effectively protected. That is not the case. What scholars are calling “civic environmentalism” is the newest trend in environmental improvement. Citizens are banding together without lawsuits or government mandates to clean up rivers, protect and restore habitat, and preserve species.

Eight, we’re going to get better at protecting species and habitat. The threat of species extinction through loss of habitat is the single most important environmental problem facing the U.S. and the world. It is also the problem least susceptible to political remedies. But our knowledge of species, habitat protection strategies, and creative initiatives to preserve habitat is growing at a rapid rate.

Nine, we are not running out of farmland or open space. The rapid growth of American metro areas in recent decades has fueled the understandable perception that we are “running out of land.” But this is a big country, and most of us never see much of it beyond our home towns. As new sophisticated methods of analyzing satellite imagery have been developed, most of the statistics on this subject of land cover in the U.S. are turning out to be wrong by a high order of magnitude. How our cities should grow is an important issue, but our choices should be made with accurate information.

Ten, the environment is perhaps the greatest public policy success story in the U.S. of the last generation. While most people point to the drop in the crime rate and welfare dependency over the last decade, the level of improvement in the environment over the last generation is much larger.

These improvements do not mean that the environment is any less of a priority, any more than the drop in crime means we are less interested in catching criminals. If we are to set smart priorities for the next generation, however, we must have a proper perspective on the real trends.

Examiner columnist Sally Pipes is the President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, a California-based think tank. She can be reached via email at spipes@pacificresearch.org