Infographic: United States of the Environment
We can't all have the most organic farms or the lowest air pollution, but every U.S. state is No. 1 in some environmental or public health category ... and No. 50 in another. Here's a look at each state's strengths and weaknesses.

By:

Russell McLendon
Mon, Apr 04 2011 at 1:15 PM
 321
In the spirit of two recent infographics that listed the best and worst of all 50 states — the United States of Awesome and the United States of Shame — MNN is taking another look, this time revealing how each state shines and suffers in regard to science, nature, public health or social justice. Check out the maps below, and for more info (or to be reminded which state is which) see the list of states, stats and sources.
 
 

Click here to learn more about each state's superlatives

 
Sources for "good U.S." map:
 
Sources for "bad U.S." map:
 
 
Also on MNN:

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vinflictor
vinflictor Apr 04 2013 at 1:47 PM

Idaho, lease public transit funding.. Well DUH!
Come on! 80% of these stats are lame and/or misconstrued.

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anonymous
Kristen Dec 29 2012 at 3:15 PM

Delaware: "lowest rate of autism" is a good thing?
Minnesota, "Highest overall rate of autism" and Ohio, "Most autism growth" is a bad thing?

I'm Autistic, and I'm glad to have more people like me in the world. :)

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anonymous
Jeff Dec 29 2012 at 10:32 AM

What about the District of Columbia?

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anonymous
Hawai`i guest Nov 20 2012 at 2:20 PM

How ironic that Hawai`i is listed as having the "least smog". We have a serious problem with sickening volcanic smog ("vog") on more than one island.

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anonymous
Jean Nov 20 2012 at 12:04 AM

Alaska has the most airports because we have the fewest roads for our geographical mass.
If you are not on the road system, you must have an airport - we also have the highest per capita number of non-commercial pilots.

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anonymous
Ashley Oct 18 2012 at 10:51 PM

Seriously, the only thing you can manage to muster for Missouri is "Most Ozarks"? Super lame.

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anonymous
Ricardo Vela Oct 07 2012 at 8:52 PM
It's interesting to see some of the correlations... for example, FL has the most sport fishing, and the most boating accidents. Really? Wow, not a shocker there. How about quantifying that... how many accidents are had by those who were sport fishing. MS has the highest percentage of black owned farms which means that blacks in MS are seriously polluting the water with pesticides. WV has the best paid coal miners, but be careful, not a safe job! MN highest exercise rate and highest autism rate.
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Clearly exercising cause autism. WI most organic corn farms yet highest binge drinking rate. Clearly, farming makes you an alcoholic. Not surprising.
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anonymous
Lee Van Dyke Oct 06 2012 at 2:14 PM

I'm sure Oklahoma has a high number of FlexFuel vehicles on the road, but I'd be VERY surprised if very many people actually use E85, or even E10 if they have a choice. I do if I'm driving mostly highway, but E85 is difficult to find in my rural area.

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anonymous
Really?? Jun 07 2012 at 10:17 PM

How can a state be better or worse off than another state given it's natural climate and geography re: least rainfall, most tornadoes, longest cave, and most caves. Also, I'm sure Indiana has more to offer us than Johnny Appleseed. It's publications like this that get environmentally-minded folks laughed at.

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anonymous
Really?? Jun 07 2012 at 10:41 PM

o also, how can you compare most organic hogs to most hog waste - it's a bit of a given isn't it - sort of like those things called "tradeoff's"

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anonymous
20brownishacres Oct 07 2012 at 2:16 PM
Iowa - most organic hogs/most hog waste? One has nothing to do with the other. We may have most organic hogs (those raised in humane conditions where they can be outside, raise little ones without being confined to a crate and not be pumped full of antibiotic that ultimately taints the meat YOU eat) but funny that we in Iowa didn't know that. On the other hand we KNOW that we have the most hog Concentrated Animal Farming Operations (CAFO's) in the Union and would really like for them to go away
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as pollution of our streams, rivers and lakes from application of RAW manure has become a huge problem which the EPA and DNR have knowlege of but are unwilling to take action on. And pity the unfortunate neighbors of these confinements - their properties have decreased in value by as much as 88 percent depending on proximatey to the CAFO according to a study done by the Missouri Rural Life Center (yes, Missourians have same problem). There's more. The stench emitted contains toxins that cause serious respiration illnesses especially in children. Don't think for a moment that all is well out here in Grant Wood country.
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anonymous
Lula May 16 2012 at 11:38 AM

Really, alabama less alcohol abuse cases than Utah? Really? ever been to a Bama or Auburn football game? They are proud to be professional alcoholics and able to drive while drunk. How was that calculated?

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anonymous
Guest Jun 04 2012 at 9:22 PM

Duh!!!
You're talking about Universities, drinking alcohol usually tends to happen at those kinds of places

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anonymous
Guest May 16 2012 at 2:25 PM

http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k4State/AppB.htm#TabB.16

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anonymous
Amy May 16 2012 at 4:35 AM

... autism growth rates as a good at/bad at thing? Really?

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anonymous
Mr. I think thi... May 15 2012 at 1:50 PM

This map is screwed up big time, and makes zero sense. NY has "top health risk from air pollution" while California has "most smog". WTF?! How do you rate clean teeth. This map is just a poorly executed way to generate traffic to your website. I'll make sure not to tell anyone your website exist.

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rkappra's picture
rkappra May 15 2012 at 10:51 AM

How do you NOT know what an Asian carp is? It's the kind of fish people have in koi ponds and they probably get sick of them and throw them in the lakes, where I guess they are reproducing. Also, use of the word "lame" is offensive to people with disabilities.

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anonymous
Guest May 16 2012 at 10:28 AM
Actually, no. Asian carp are fish raised for eating. They escaped from a farm in AR or MS (somewhere downstream on the Mississippi River) and are heading up, currently in the outskirts of Chicago. They eat everything in their path, and basically kill off all the native species. They're also not really part of the American palate, so they aren't overfished-- or fished really at all. They're the fish you see by the hundreds jumping several feet out of the water when a boat goes by. If they make
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it through the Chicago River locks, they'll enter the Great Lakes and Michigan's fisheries will basically be destroyed.
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anonymous
Amy May 16 2012 at 4:48 AM

Not to mention the use of autism rates as a pro/con thing... ableism fail, MNN.

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anonymous
diana May 15 2012 at 10:45 AM
I know you were focusing on environmental issues but some of these are really pathetic. The worst thing you could think of for Alaska was that there are a lot of airports? Obviously you've never flown to a village. Most village airports have less lighted and paved areas than the patios in many backyards in the lower 48. Also, many time planes land on water - not exactly an environmental impact. Often you have to wade to shore, there may not even be a dock. I suppose it would be less environmental
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impact to walk to the village, but if your daughter was about to be raped (Alaska continues to have the highest rape statistic in the country) do you want the troopers to fly in, or walk? The worst environmental crime in Alaska is that 20 years after the fact, Exxon has not paid damages to people. Being a corporate person, Exxon can tie the case up in court forever, meanwhile the human plaintiffs die of old age.
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anonymous
Tim May 15 2012 at 10:18 AM

whoops... no District of Columbia!

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anonymous
Tad Apr 26 2012 at 12:25 PM

You forgot the District of Columbia.

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anonymous
Matt Amos Apr 26 2012 at 10:55 AM

Johnny Appleseed? Indiana is giving you the finger right now.

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anonymous
JPB Apr 25 2012 at 2:10 PM

Most endangered species (HI) seems like a double edged sword. You have to have a lot of species to begin with to have a large number of endangered ones.

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anonymous
Guest Apr 28 2012 at 10:04 AM

And most of the species in Hawaii are endemic, so therefore almost by definition, they are endangered.

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