U.S. 28th in environmental performance

A nation-by-nation study by Yale and Columbia universities shows the United States is 28th in the world in environmental performance.

The pilot study, being released this week during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, shows only six nations -- led by New Zealand, followed by five from Northern Europe -- have achieved 85 percent or better success in meeting a set of critical environmental goals, The New York Times reported Monday.

The United States trailed most Western European nations, as well as Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Costa Rica and Chile in meeting environmental goals in such areas as safe drinking water and low ozone levels.

The bottom half of the rankings is largely filled with nations in Africa and Central and South Asia. Pakistan and India rank among the 20 lowest-scoring countries, with overall success rates of 41.1 percent and 47.7 percent, in that order, the Times reported.

The pilot study, called the 2006 Environmental Performance Index, is designed to monitor progress on environmental issues included among the Millennium Development goals adopted by 189 nations at the U.N. Millennium Summit.