Kentucky sitting near bottom of rankings in environmental protection: Study
According to a SmileHub study, Americans produce more than 4.9 pounds of waste per day. SmileHub claimed that over 50% of Americans worry about the toxic waste pollution of soil and water sources.
The study compared 50 states across three key factors: environmental protection, energy consumption and waste disposal, and emission and pollution contributions.
The charity locating website said that Kentucky doesn't work as hard as other states in limiting its pollution.
Kentucky sitting near bottom of rankings in environmental protection: Study
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In the study, SmileHub found that, after comparing all 50 states, Kentucky ranks 47th overall in environmental protection, only being outpaced by Kansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
With a total score of 33.60, Kentucky ranks:
39th in environmental protection per capita
42nd in share of state land designated for parks and wildlife
37th in energy efficiency
41st in total tonnage of landfill waste per capita
31st in industrial toxins per square mile
Regarding Kentucky's green initiatives, the Bluegrass ranks 42nd in share of population using green transportation, which is contributing to its overall rank of 20th in terms of vulnerability to climate change, the study found.
Read more of the latest Kentucky news
SmileHub data claims the overall top-ranking states in terms of environmental protection are California, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont.
As for overall scores in the study, the top five performing states are California, Washington, New York, Vermont, and Maryland. While Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Dakota scrape the bottom of the barrel, according to SmileHub.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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