Environmental Protection and Growth

In Chapter Nine, “The Great Outdoors”, of The Hudson River Highlands, the author, Frances Dunwell, includes an interesting quote that captures American realizations at the end of the nineteenth century concerning the natural world.

“Americans were bumping up against the reality that there were limits on the Earth’s capacity for renewal and those limits were being reached.”

As this quote indicates, at this time in the Hudson’s history, there was a great social change stirring in America. It was an era of protection – many national parks were created, and environmental groups formed to expand protection to valuable natural treasures like the Palisades and Hudson Highlands. As in the mid-1800s, the era of Romanticism, large numbers of people displayed a great concern for nature. Two movements emerged at the end of the nineteenth century – one pushed for the preservation of wild spaces because of their intrinsic spiritual value, and the other pressed for conservation of natural resources.

Returning to the aforementioned quote, Americans seemed to forget that business expansion had limits as the 1900s moved onward. In the mid-twentieth century, pollution was rampant, and many businesses engaged in what we now know to be environmentally-detrimental practices. In the 1970s and again in the 1990s, however, new laws were passed to further conserve natural resources and preserve the environment. Under the Bush administration, environmental protection has again been loosened so that businesses may grow uninhibited.

I think that most people can agree that business growth is optimal, but such growth does not have to come at the expense of the environment; sustainable growth should be the current target for businesses and communities alike. In this vein, many businesses are today choosing to adopt environmentally-friendly policies that foster business growth. A pro-environment mindset fosters innovation and economic growth in areas yet undiscovered, especially in the realm of alternative energy sources. Despite the insistence of many major oil and coal companies that oil and coal are still in great abundance (which they may or may not be), the fact remains that oil and coal are nonrenewable resources. On the other hand, wind and solar power are potentially limitless, and, as research continues, we may find other energy sources to continue the growth of the American economy, albeit at a sustainable level.