To Increase Economic Growth, Government Can Neglect Environmental Concerns.

Some people argue as it is a general truth that government can neglect environment concerns in order to increase economic growth. But to be frank, I cannot agree with such statement. There are numerous reasons why I hold no confidence on them, and I would explore only a few primary ones here.

The main problem with this argument is that it is ignorant of the basic fact that environmental issues caused by some shortsighted economic policies can have severe consequence to many industries, in turn, which is not good for the development of economy. For example, in my hometown, the local government permitted a program of a chemistry plant several years ago. Although this program brought thousands of revenues each year, it did great harm to the surrounding environment. Dangerous effluent from this plant was poured into the river through the town and the air grew thick and smoky due to the exhaust emission. No one dared to use the water in the river, not alone to cultivate the fish or to irrigate the fields. The fishing and agriculture industry was totally ruined, which in turn caused great loss in economy.

Another reason why I disagree with the above statement is that I believe that the negligence of the environment result in the loss of the investment opportunity in the future. Nowadays, many overseas investors pay increasing attention to the investment environment, not only the economic policy but also the natural environment. The management prefers to choose a place nice enough for their employees to work in and live in. Imagine if they decide to build a plant in a badly polluted city where their workers can easily get sick, can the factory have satisfactory performance? From this perspective, caring about economic growth without the consideration of the environment is not a wise decision to the local government.

What is more, if government promotes the economy at the cost of environment, it will put the health of the local people at risk. It is commonly...