Proving that money isn’t everything, Costa Rica won a place among the world’s top three nations in an international ranking of environmental performance, despite per capita income of about $10,000 a year. Cuba and Colombia, two other middle-income countries, came in ninth and tenth, respectively, in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) of 163 nations. Meanwhile, impoverished Honduras (118), Bolivia (137) and Haiti (155) ranked near the bottom, largely because of economic limitations on their ability to provide clean water, air and energy. “Wealth often correlates highly with environmental performance, but our study also shows that some countries can outperform members of both their income group and higher income groups through wise policy decisions,” says Christine Kim, the research director of the report. The... [Log in to read more]