Environment vs. Jobs

There is a huge confusion or should I say conflict going on in this country which is do we save environment or do we save jobs. On the one hand saving the environment may save jobs but initially it will destroy jobs. This is the dilemma the people are facing. Helping the environment is not easy. Life style needs to be changed as well. Environmentalists worry more about what will happen to the nature while ignoring the facts that how the people are going to put food on the table. The people who have been working in a certain industry can’t just quit and retrain quickly to get another job. And the impact of saving the environment is long term. Since we (the human race) have destroyed the environment for such a long time, it will take an equally long time to at least restore the balance.

Then because this environment is so damaged all over the world that the developed world suddenly woke up to demand from the developing world to stop using chemicals harmful to the environment. Now the developing world refuses to do so since how will they be able to alleviate their citizenry from poverty if not by development. And a environmentally friendly development is not the way to go since it cost money and developing countries don’t have that. Even in the western world, the environmentalists are in conflict with people whose livelihood is threatened by laws that favor the nature rather than the people without having a viable alternative to make money.