The Environment or The Economy: Society’s Trade-off

Checkout the New Yorker Blog for more on the economy vs. the environment!

The trade-off between a healthy environment and a thriving economy is one of the most controversial dilemmas faced by society today. The harsh reality is that people care more about their own well being than the shrinking glaciers, and especially more than the generations hereafter that must live with the consequences of our actions. So whose responsibility is it to sustain both the environment and its economy? The answer is: it begins with the businesses. David Owen’s blog on The New Yorker says, “The world’s principal source of man-made greenhouse gases has always been prosperity.” When the economy is thriving, the actions of the people greatly affect the state of the environment. For example, more employed, well-off people leads to more cars on the road, more travelling emissions, and the like. However, we must think back to the cause of this prosperity: the thriving big industrial, job supplying, carbon-emitting companies. Many big businesses have supplied a great deal to the economy, but at the expense of the environment. The only way to stop this trend is to transform businesses to jointly create a profit for itself, value to its consumers, and environmentally harmless procedures. Thus, the environment and the economy should not be viewed as needing an “either or” type of solution, but rather one that mutually benefits both, and it starts with the businesses.

For further information on the topic visit: Eco IQ

 

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