The issue of economic growth vs. environmental quality is not an easy one to solve. We cannot eliminate all factors of environmental harm without taking a huge loss in our economical standard of life. However, our current system is coming at a greater cost to the environment than what is sustainable to the Earth. So the only thing to do is reevaluate what we are currently doing. It is not reasonable to say that we should have growth over environmental quality, or vice versa. Instead, we must achieve an equilibrium that is currently unknown.
Reasons why economic growth should not trump the standards of the environment can probably span on for a whole book. However, there is one underlying principle--the Earth is not in-disposable! Economic growth, if tried under the right circumstances, can be obtained in ways we are aware of. However, we cannot always stop the planet from becoming further and further toxic mainly because once harm is done it cannot be un-done; or it can in ways we do not yet know. After the damage has taken place for so long and we learn the ramifications, it might be too late to make a difference. This is why it is important to have environmental policies in place.
Making environmental policies that coincide with sound economic decisions is not always easy but there are principles and guidelines that can help us. One of great importance, the precautionary principle, should be in use as much as possible, if not at all times. To say “precautionary principle” means that, regardless of the presence of extensive scientific experiments and testing, we use current evidence and what we do know to guide us away from or around a particular risk perceived as a dangerous or serious threat until further knowledge can be obtained (Miller and Spoolman, 316).
It is not, however, plausible to do everything that we know how in order to protect our environment, because if that were the case we would suffer a great economic downturn. It is important to point out that the current world population growth is about 1.13 percent per year. This means as of present, around 80 million people are added in one year, according to worldometers.info. With this type of growth rate going on, it is important our economy keeps up with the constant adding of people every day, and the constant need to circulate money. In order to do this, there must be some environmental sacrifices.
Probably the biggest sacrifice we make as a nation, and even as a globe, is how we obtain our energy resources (i.e.: electricity and fuel). These industries support local and regional economies around the world, and without them, many would be jobless and poor. But what types of ramifications do these generating plants have on our environment, and what circumstances can we cut back or become more efficient? These issues are still troubling many experts in the field today.
Perhaps one way to become more efficient is to find a better way to reduce or reuse our waste. This would allow economic growth to continue with minimum costs on air and water quality. Many industries have implemented technology in an effort to become more efficient. In one instance, the Bailly’s Generating Plant in Chesterton, Indiana has created a “scrubber” in order to harness the emissions from the removal of SOx gas into a substance that can be used to make drywall (personal experience, March.18 2016). The industry has now made contracts with other businesses to sell this waste product for profit--one man’s trash becomes another man’s treasure. If this situation can be recreated in other circumstances, our waste would have a much lesser impact on the world around us.
There is no clear way to say that we should choose economy over environment, or environment over economy. Kenneth Arrow points out in his article that it is not growth alone that affects the environment negatively but rather what makes up the growth. This is why we must go into a deeper assessment of how we are choosing to expand our economy, always use the precautionary principle and keep the greater good of the Earth in mind when making economical decisions. If we can figure out a way to reduce our waste while growing economically, the environment would suffer a great deal less. Only then can we hope to sustain our environment to a level conducive for life for many centuries to come.
Works Cited
Arrow, K. (1995). Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. Science, (268)5210, 520-521. Retrieved from http://lib-proxy.purduecal.edu:2846/ic/bic1/search...
Miller, T.G and Spoolman, S.E. (2015). Sustaining the Earth. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Worldometers. (2016) World Population. Retrieved from http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
