What Do You Think, Is Idaho a Toxic State?

What if you compared us to other states?

I bet when you first read that question you thought I meant toxic people. Well, I don't doubt that we have those in our midst. They can be found just about anywhere and often times it takes awhile before you realize they are sucking the life out of you. That's how toxic people are. It's not always easy to spot them or know what kind of damager they're doing.

Kind of like actual toxins.

Heck, that's probably why we use "toxic" as an adjective. Toxins can sometimes be invisible and well-hidden. However, the fact remains that they are toxic and they can hurt you. There are a lot of toxins that are emitted all across the globe. I think I'd like to see a study on how dirty the air is around the world now compared to made 50 years ago.

Of course, we've made great strides in fixing this, but it's going to take some time. After all, we're not just preventing more toxins being emitted, we're having to eradicate the damage we've already done.

As you would imagine, some states are less toxic than others. Again, I'm talking about environmental pollutants... not people.

US News released a report on industrial toxins that are emitted into the air and water. These come from things like manufacturing, electric power generation, hazardous waste treatment, etc. Most states (64 percent) are below the 1,000 mark. According to these experts, 1,000 toxin releases per square miles is good indicator of low toxicity.

Obviously, the lower the better.

States like Indiana, Delaware, Louisiana and Nevada were the biggest culprits in toxic emissions. Indiana was the number one offender at 3,442 toxins releases per square mile. Each of the other top five listed were above 2,500.

As for Idaho, our number was 407.

We are lightyears ahead of other states and I hope it stays that way. Of course, everything can be improved, but I'd say were in a pretty good spot. It's just another reason to love Idaho!