The two objectives that provide the overarching structure of the 2014 EPI are Environmental Health and Ecosystem Vitality. Environmental Health measures the protection of human health from environmental harm. Ecosystem Vitality measures ecosystem protection and resource management.

Over the past five decades, Mexicans have constituted the single largest group of immigrants to the United States originating from Latin America. In 2011, 11.7 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United States, representing 29 percent of the US immigrant population and close to 4 percent of the overall US population.

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) - Blackened debris, twisted metal and gas leaks hampered rescue workers' search for perhaps dozens of bodies Tuesday, three days after a runaway oil train smashed into this small lakeside town, incinerating homes, a library and a crowded bar.