Cascadia Scorecard gives B.C. top marks on health

Residents of British Columbia are some of the healthiest in the world, according to a recent progress report conducted by Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based nonprofit research centre with a focus on the Pacific Northwest.

The Cascadia Scorecard 2009 tracked progress for B.C., Washington, Idaho, and Oregon on seven different sectors, including health, population, energy, and pollution. Relative to the Northwest states, B.C. achieved the highest level of sustainable growth overall.

The report card found that British Columbians live on average two years longer than non-Canadian Cascadians, and enjoy a lifespan that surpasses that of all other North American states and provinces. The report also acknowledged that if our province was its own country, we would have the second longest lifespan in the world, after Japan.

But the findings of the study weren’t all positive. While B.C. residents use one third less fuel and electricity per person than those in the Northwest states, we pale in comparison to people living in more efficient countries, such as Germany, who use about 50 percent less energy. Our province also recorded an increased percentage of children living below the low-income cutoff.

Detailed results of the Cascadia Scorecard are available at www.scorecard.sightline.org/.

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