The Jobs Vs. Environment False Tradeoff Rises Again
The technology of production continues to advance, yet some conservative politicos and short-sighted business leaders and lobbyists persist in viewing new environmental regulations as simply adding costs to business. While this may be true for factories that do not modernize and work to increase efficiency, the standard thinking that some items cannot be manufactured without polluting is outdated.
In reality, many businesses are actively working to reduce their environmental impact, utilizing their wastes and increasing energy efficiency. However, there are still production facilities, such as the petrochemical plants in Louisiana’s “cancer alley,” that continue to spew toxins into the air, water, and ground without making any effort to reduce their environmental impact.
While the cost of retrofitting old factories with pollution control devices is a concern for some business leaders, new factories designed using the techniques of closed system industrial ecology tend to be more cost-efficient, energy-efficient, and cleaner. Yet, many established industries resist reengineering their old factories and instead prefer to ride the wave of anti-regulatory ideology.
The fact is, the nature of American manufacturing has changed, with a shift towards high-value-added goods. And while manufacturing employment has decreased due to improved worker productivity, the idea that regulation adds unnecessary costs is outdated. In many cases, environmental standards actually drive modernization of production processes and technologies, leading to lower costs and more competition.
Contrary to popular belief, the false trade-off between the environment and jobs persists and is often promoted by business lobbying groups. The reality is that the supposed negative impacts of environmental regulations on manufacturing jobs are largely unfounded, and political polarization often takes precedence over factual information.
It is time to move beyond ideological divides and focus on achieving a factual basis for public policy in order to address the complexities of the modern world.
