Economic Growth without Environmental Damage (Essay Sample)

Economic Growth without Environmental Damage
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Economic Growth without Environmental Damage
Economic growth is the process in which the economy of a given state or country develops. This is mainly in economically poor countries. Over the years, economic growth is said to have had a downbeat collision on the instantaneous environment. This is also referred to as environmental damage. This can be attributed to industrialisation and how it is accompanied by pollution. People are less dependent on natural resources due to economic growth. It is due to this that many natural habitats have been destroyed. These include forests, which are cleared to create room for the ever-growing infrastructure. Despite all these, it is possible for economic growth to occur without an effect on the environment (Kabbes, 2007).
Among the main effects of economic growth on the environment, is the clearing of forests to create room for infrastructure. These include buildings, roads and communication lines. The clearing of forests is believed to be destruction of water catchment areas hence leading to drought. Organised felling of trees and a replacement of the same can control this. It is upon the authorities to make certain that banned tree felling is stopped, and instead land should be set aside for the purpose of growth of trees. This will have solved the problem since there would be organised felling of trees and the land set aside would remain intact.
Environmental damage is also attributed to the use of non-renewable sources of fuel. These include coal, gas and other petroleum products. The fumes emitted by these fuels have an impact on the ozone layer leading to global warming. This has accelerated due to the increase in use of vehicles even when not necessary. In this case, each person has to take a step in controlling this kind of pollution. Although an increase in the number of individuals owning vehicles shows economic growth, it should be controlled. Individuals owning vehicles should control the use of their vehicles thus reduce the chances of environmental damage, (Ekins, 2000)
Economic growth has led to a rise in living standards of individuals thus an increase in population. Increase in population leads to demand for more family resources especially in terms of money. Previously, people depended on agriculture for subsistence upkeep. With economic growth, people had to turn to growth of commercial food crops for the sake of their upkeep. This was also done to satisfy the outside market. In an effort to make money, many farmers neglected the basic principles of farming. This came with soil pollution due to use of chemicals and erosion due to improper agricultural methods. These problems can be solved if only farmers take into consideration what they are supposed to do in order to avoid degradation of the environment (Starrett, 2009). 
In conclusion, it is possible to have economic growth without environmental damage. This can be made possible by addressing the environmental problems caused by economic growth, and how each of the issues can be solved. As discussed, problems such as destruction of natural resou...