Quote:
Originally Posted by Agamemnon
Geesh. The environment is what our economy (and lifestyle) is based on. I really can't relate to someone saying the environment is not on their list of priorities. I think sometimes people equate 'helping the environment' with 'caring about nothing else in the world BUT the environment'. I don't see how worrying about keeping the economy healthy and worrying about the environment are mutually exclusive issues. Huge portions of our economy rely on a healthy environment, not to mention human health. It seems so short-sighted to want to prioritize thing other than the environment/world we live in. The anti-environment crowd sure has been successful at making this an all or none issue, 'if you support helping the environment, you're an anti-economy nut-bar'. I guess we'll see who was right in the end though.
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I totally agree with you. However, let's not forget how tough the traditional environmentalists have made it for themselves. The politics of polarization created by Greenpeace et al between traditional environmentalists and "big business" has made for a rather large obstacle to overcome.
It's just as short-sighted to expect average citizens to make drastic changes to their economic lifestyles to protect the environment, often when most people aren't directly (knowingly or not) effected by pollution, global warming etc...
There is a way to blend the two together though, call it fiscal environmentalism, free-market environmentalism... whatever you want. These two concepts have to be brought together.