Poll shows Americans more concerned with economy than environment

The New York Times green blog reported this today:

"For the first time in Gallup’s 25-year history of asking Americans about the trade-off between environmental protection and economic growth, a majority of Americans say economic growth should be given the priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent."

This is hardly shocking given the troublesome economy and rising unemployment rates. While it is slightly depressing that many Americans are thinking in a shortsighted manner about the economy and environment, you can't really blame them.

However, you can blame the media for framing the debate in an uninformed manner. Too often the media discussion around the debate between economic growth and environmental protection seems to be an either/or discussion. The fact of the matter is that these issues are not mutually exclusive. As you've seen in this blog, it is possible for individual consumers to save significant amounts of money by going green.

And, on a national level, it is just as possible for our country to promote economic development and green principles simultaneously. With the stimulus package, the government created thousands of jobs and allocated millions of dollars to be used to enhance work and research in green technology areas, including reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

While it's great for The New York Times and other media outlets to create an apparent conflict by making a complicated issue black and white, it is not healthy for the discourse of the debate. So, the next time you hear someone discussing whether we should focus on environmental protection or economic growth, realize that the best answer is that we should focus on both.