Is it possible to protect the environment when many countries require increasing amounts of energy to progress

Another reason why I believe that protecting the environment and economic progress is possible and becoming ever less mutually exclusive is the increase in environmental awareness and desires to protect the environment, whether for altruistic reasons or for self interests. Today, 30% of paper and plastic waste in the USA as stated by the USA Environmental Agency, is recycled. This is despite the fact that recycling is often a low profit margin business that requires government subsidies to operate. A 30% recycling rate is an achievement that shows a government can push for both progress and environmental protection at the same time, with enough political will. Also, air travel the bloodlines of the world economic machine is beginning to become cleaner with the foray of firms such as France’s Climate Mundi which encourages air travelers and gives them a medium to compensate for the carbon they had caused to be emitted during their flights. This is done by paying an extra but small sum over the air ticket’s price, which then goes to fund tree-planting events and to replace the dirty-burning wood stoves of poor Sub-Saharan Africans with cleaner electric or petroleum stoves. Of course, dissenters would say that such schemes only apply to altruistic people and governments which are few and far between. However, I believe that such choices are increasingly becoming ones that are made based on self-interest as people are feeling the negative impacts of environmental damage. For instance, in 2008, well after the Olympic concluded, Beijing re-imposed car quotas because it was in its interest to reduce pollution levels to protect people’s health and to attract tourists and investors. Thus, I believe that self-interest and altruism are, more than ever, leading to “green” decisions being made which protect the environment while not or insignificantly inhibiting economic progress.

The final reason why I believe progress and environmental protection may go hand-in-hand is that of the system of capitalism and the desire of the business to maximize profits. The increase in environmental consciousness and the desires of consumers to purchase “green” products and cleaner cars have led to a paradigm shift in markets where companies are now incentivized to produce green products or to sponsor green movements. Companies such as Toyota and Honda have taken advantage of such a change in drivers’ preferences by creating smaller, cleaner cars and hydroelectric cars, leading them to “progress” and turn profits while protecting the environment at the same time. Appearing green is also a trend for companies which are in the service sector. Wall Street Research firm Standard and Poors has concluded in 2008 that “green” corporate citizenship adds profits to a company’s balance sheet. This could explain why highly respected Wall Street Firms like Goldman Sachs and the Bank of America have been sponsoring environmental reform projects in China. Thus, it is seen that capitalism and businesses’ inherent desire for profits can and is increasingly leading to firms both progressing and protecting the environment at the same time. The environmentally sustainable growth of businesses could quite possibly be the wave of the near future.

I believe that it is possible to protect the environment while striving for economic progress, notwithstanding the latter requiring increasingly more energy to accomplish. This, though, is contingent on the fact that the development of alternative energy sources and the increase in environmental consciousness among people, governments and firms are sustained at the current pace.