Opinion polls consistently show that Americans believe the environment has deteriorated during their lifetimes, and will continue to get worse in the future, with detrimental consequences for public health and well being. Much of the public's perception of what ails the environment is driven by the relentless accumulation of anecdotes and the "crisis entrepreneurs" who exploit environmental problems. In fact, many aspects of environmental quality have improved dramatically since the first Earth Day in 1970. While genuine environmental problems should not be slighted, false impressions about environmental quality can contribute to mistaken priorities and bad policy.

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