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Costa Rica Tops 'Green and Happy' List; US 114th

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 4, 2009 1:45 PM CDT

(Newser) – Costa Rica is the happiest, most ecologically friendly country on earth, according to the New Economics Foundation’s Happy Planet Index. The US, on the other hand, came in 114th out of 146, the Guardian reports. The index ranks countries both on the happiness of their citizens and the environmental footprint they leave. Latin American countries dominate the top of the list, while African nations populate the bottom.

Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction and live slightly longer on average than Americans, all with a fraction of the environmental footprint. The index “suggests that the path we have been following is, without exception, unable to deliver all three goals: high life satisfaction, high life expectancy, and 'one-planet living,’” says the report’s lead author.

Residents carry bags of Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs harvested at Ostional beach on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007.
Residents carry bags of Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs harvested at Ostional beach on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007.   (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert)
People carry bags of Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs to wash in the ocean at Ostional beach on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Monday, Nov. 19, 2007.
People carry bags of Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs to wash in the ocean at Ostional beach on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Monday, Nov. 19, 2007.   (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
Snowleopard
Jul 6, 2009 11:16 AM CDT
that's why the U.S. is broken into states, to help deal with scaling.
Snowleopard
Jul 6, 2009 11:13 AM CDT
well said. it's one thing to be proud of your country - it's another thing to be arrogantly delusional about its superiority in every facet of life. The U.S. isn't perfect (just as no person is without any faults), and can in fact, learn a thing or two from other nations from time to time.
Kookey90
Jul 5, 2009 12:43 PM CDT
Dang, I should have bought that house in Costa Rica for $22,000.00 back in '90.

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