{"id":8405,"date":"2017-08-29T15:16:23","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T19:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=8405"},"modified":"2025-06-10T17:02:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T21:02:16","slug":"healthy-environment-prosperous-economy-festa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2017\/08\/29\/healthy-environment-prosperous-economy-festa\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no winner takes all when it comes to the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"After many years of working to protect the environment, I have come to believe in two big ideas: community and civility.<\/p>\n

The first seems simple, but is profound nonetheless: From a tiny frog to a giant grizzly, from a family farmer to the residents of our largest cities, all of us are in this together. We all rely upon the benefits that nature provides to prosper.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not what we hear from some politicians who parrot discredited talking points that claim environmental protection kills jobs and cripples the economy.<\/p>\n

The truth is that a thriving economy and high quality of life are inextricably linked to, and dependent upon, a healthy environment. We neglect \u2013 or worse, punish \u2013 the natural world at our peril.<\/p>\n

[Tweet “We can’t have a thriving economy without thriving ecosystems, @davidfesta via @GrowingReturnshttps:\/\/edf.org\/8Ef”]<\/p>\n

Healthy environment, prosperous economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Losing the coastal marshes of Louisiana, for example, doesn\u2019t just mean wiping out the rich bayou ecosystem, where great blue herons, alligators and bobcats live among the towering cypresses. It means shrinking the vital nurseries of shrimp, oysters and fish that contribute to a seafood industry worth billions of dollars. It also means losing valuable natural buffers that protect major cities like New Orleans from extreme weather \u2014 and also shield the refineries and other massive facilities of same industry that caused much of the loss.<\/p>\n

Similar tales of the interdependence between humans and the environment can be found all across the country. Reducing the amount of nutrients that flow into creeks and rivers in America\u2019s heartland by improving farming practices and restoring wetlands is a boon to wildlife. At the same time, it also lessens the enormous economic toll from removing harmful nitrates from drinking water.<\/p>\n

In the parched American West, better management of water basins not only restores vanishing ecosystems, with its rich diversity of aquatic and avian life. It also helps water managers cope better with shortages and surpluses, ensuring that cities, farms and local communities don\u2019t run dry.<\/p>\n

These examples, and many more, show how protecting ecosystems is essential to economic and human prosperity. And such protection becomes even more crucial in today\u2019s changing climate, which is bringing rising seas, more intense heat waves, more extreme storms, more severe floods and droughts.<\/p>\n

Because of this new and growing threat, we need a second big idea: a return to civility.<\/p>\n

Collaborative conservation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My colleague Miriam Horn wrote a book<\/a>, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman<\/em> \u2013 which is now a documentary<\/a> that will air on Discovery Channel Aug. 31 \u2013 that chronicles the approach we must take to ensure our natural resources continue to sustain life and allow us to thrive.<\/p>\n