Note that the data published in the 2002 State of the Nation’s Ecosystems Report as well as the 2003 and 2005 Web-Only Updates have been superseded by the 2008 Report and thus should be used with caution. For the most recent data, purchase the 2008 Report from Island Press.

Notes and References

1. S.P. Hays. 1989. Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955–1985. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
The following sources provide polling data that demonstrate the nature and depth of public opinion on the environment:

The Polling Report, Inc. Multiple polls, including Gallup, ABC News, Newsweek, Harris. Accessed at www.pollingreport.com/enviro.htm on April 26, 2002.
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. Multiple polls from 1999 and 2000. Accessed at http://www.voteenvironment.org/media_debunking_env_myths_data.html on November 21, 2001.

2. Christine Vogan. Pollution Abatement and Control Expenditures, 1973–94. Survey of Current Business, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/an/0996eed/maintext.htm; accessed August 8, 2001.

3. Note that costs of compliance with wetlands, endangered species, and similar regulatory programs, plus voluntary actions by the public and private sector, are probably also significant as well, but are not included.

4. Executive Office of the President, National Science and Technology Council, Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. National Environmental Monitoring and Research Workshop Proceedings. February 25, 1997.

5. Council on Environmental Quality. 1970. Environmental Quality: The First Annual Report of the Council on Environmental Quality, p. 237. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

6. National Academy of Public Administration. 1995. Setting Priorities, Getting Results: A New Direction for the Environmental Protection Agency. Washington, DC: National Academy of Public Administration.
National Research Council, Committee to Evaluate Indicators for Monitoring Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments. 2000. Ecological Indicators for the Nation. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9720.html.

7. This situation exists in spite of several efforts to prepare and sustain periodic reporting on indicators and trends. For example, the Council on Environmental Quality published two major reports on environmental indicators and trends, one in 1981 and one in 1989, and the Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization, prepared three major reports (in 1982, 1984, and 1987) on environmental indicators and trends:

Conservation Foundation. 1982. State of the Environment 1982: A Report from the Conservation Foundation. Washington, DC.
Conservation Foundation. 1984. State of the Environment: An Assessment at Mid-decade. Washington, DC.
Conservation Foundation. 1987. State of the Environment: A View toward the Nineties. Washington, DC.
Council on Environmental Quality. 1981. Environmental trends. Executive Office of the President, Washington, DC.
Council on Environmental Quality. 1989. Environmental trends. Cosponsored by the Interagency Advisory Committee on Environmental Trends, Executive Office of the President. Washington, DC.