Evidence is mounting that pollution control not only is compatible with economic advancement but actually may contribute to it. Today, however, the tide has turned again, in an unexpected direction. Pollution control and environmental improvement were branded as luxuries the nation could ill afford. Industry spokesmen, labor leaders and elected officials argued strongly that environmental regulations should be relaxed to stimulate the economy and preserve jobs. Cleaning up the environment and getting the economy back on its feet suddenly were regarded as mutually exclusive. The drive to stop pollution and clean up the environment, which came to resemble a national crusade in the giddy aftermath of Earth Day 1970, ran head-on into energy shortages, rising inflation, spreading unemployment and deepening recession in the middle years of the decade. The words “ecology” and “economy” come from the same etymological root-from the Greek word meaning “household management.” Yet in recent years the two words have taken on conflicting connotations, with environmental protection widely labeled an enemy of economic progress.
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