Institute’s Green Index Ranks California at 4th in the Nation : Environment: Study of states analyzed 256 indicators such as pollution, waste disposal and energy use.

State encouragement of a healthy environment is most impressive in the Northeast, West and Northwest and poorest in the South, especially Alabama, researchers said Sunday.

The Green Index, an analysis of 256 indicators by the Institute of Southern Studies in Durham, N.C., gave top overall marks to Oregon, followed by Maine, Vermont and California.

Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana joined Alabama at the bottom of the charts, and the rankings sparked debate even before their official publication today by Island Press.

Pat Byington, a spokesman for the Alabama Conservancy, said the state should move immediately to address its problems.

“The best thing about the Green Index is that it points out where our weaknesses are,” Byington said. “We’re calling on our political leadership and the people of Alabama to heed these warnings and come up with a plan to protect our environment.”

The state Department of Environmental Management prepared an 11-page rebuttal defending Alabama’s environmental record.

“The Green Index does little to add to informed debate on significant environmental issues due to its use of outdated and, in some instances, incorrect information and its subjective analysis in ranking certain parameters,” the statement said.

Bob Hall, research director for the Institute for Southern Studies, said the report should send “a message of urgency” for low-ranking states.

The South is “a region where the environment is under pressure,” Hall said. “It’s also the region where the lawmakers are very lackluster in their attitudes to the environment.”

The institute is a public interest advocacy research group which says it is “dedicated to investigating economic, environmental and social conditions in the South and throughout the U.S.”

The Green Index weighed air and water pollution measures, toxic and other waste disposal, energy use, population density and the like. It placed Oregon third behind Hawaii and Vermont for environmental conditions.

For strict environmental laws, Oregon ranked second behind California, but the strong overall showing pushed the state into first place overall.

The criteria for the Green Index reflect a broad view of environmentalism--considering, for instance, mandatory seat belt laws.

Most of the categories are more closely related to measures of pollution, such as pounds per capita of toxic waste released or percentage of rivers failing to meet national water quality standards.

Alabama’s rivers and streams won high ratings--fifth place--but the state’s total ranking plummeted because of such categories as infant mortality, quality of shellfishing waters and safety violations at nuclear power plants.

Oregon got high marks for recycling programs and for relatively low acid levels in its rainfall. It survived poor scores for oil spills and forest preservation.

Environmental Rankings Here are the top and bottom finishers in the ranking of the 50 states by the Institute of Southern Studies. Five Best

1. Oregon

2. Maine

3. Vermont

4. California

5. Minnesota

Five Worst

50. Alabama

49. Louisiana

48. Arkansas

47. Mississippi

46. Texas

California Ratings

Here is how California ranked in the various categories. Best

State environmental policy (1st)

Renewable energy (1st)

Worst

Municipal solid waste generated (49th)

Shellfishing waters limited (49th)

Population with air violating carbon monoxide standards (48th)

Sustainable farming practices (49th)

Source: Associated Press