Cofirmation (new)

First, the reason why the environment should be prioritized over the economy is a healthy environment is linked to a healthy economy. According to EPA, determined that for every $1 the US spent on cleaning up the environment, it would save about $5 from reduced health care costs, reduced property damage, reduced damage to crops, and increased worker productivity, This phenomenon can contribute to economic growth as individuals earn more and countries spend less. Also, According to the World Bank, air pollution costs the global economy trillions of dollars each year. This is because the process of treating air pollution requires removing carbon dioxide and hiring people to run pollution treatment units. The bottom line, protecting the environment actually saves money and improves the economy. The problem with understanding this is that benefits are distributed to each individual and are not easy to see, but they are there, whereas costs are easy to see in government or corporate spending. For example, polluting factories and fossil fuel companies and automakers each see direct costs that they can directly measure in dollars. Thus, the costs of cleaning up pollution are more visible than the costs of pollution. This means that the economic gains are millions of individuals paying lower medical bills, thousands of farmers having slightly better yields, millions of employees paying less sick leave, etc. It is hard to see that, and individuals do not usually agree based on benefits they do not directly see. 

The second reason the environment should be prioritized over the economy is that prioritizing environmental protection will create new jobs in long-lived industries. Retrofitting homes, alternative energy, and sustainable urban planning are just a few of the emerging industries whose demand extends far into the future. According to Euronews, Someone will make and sell air pollution control technology for power plants and cars. Someone builds sewage and water treatment facilities. Someone will make money from solar cells and wind power, and even bigger jobs will be created by those who invent the 1,000-mile, high-capacity batteries that will one-day power electric cars.

Finally, the reason the environment should be prioritized over the economy is that the environment helps economic growth. Some things people want are free, like air, walking, and for some people, water. Most important things, like water, food, and shelter in cities that people pay for through the economic system, rely on natural resources, i.e. primary production. The limits of primary production are largely dependent on the environment. Without the basics, there is no use in advanced economic systems like entertainment and luxury goods. A key aspect of considering the importance of the environment is that in the short term, People can cope with degradation levels without affecting our economic systems, but in the long term, this is not the case. The economy depends on the environment, but in the long term, to sustain billions of people on the planet, People can have both and there is no reason to have neither because the real economy is not against the environment.