Debunking the Growth Myth, Part 8

Myth Number 8
Most don’t really support growth management or environmental protection.

Reality Check: A majority of the public does recognize the importance of environmental protection and the need to manage growth.

Surveys consistently show a broad awareness of environmental issues and a concern about continued growth. A statewide survey of 1,361 Oregonians conducted in 1993 found 75 percent of respondents believe maintaining a quality environment is more important to economic growth than relaxing environmental regulations. Furthermore, 64 percent felt that “environmental protection will become more important than economic growth.”

Nationwide, 70 percent of respondents to a May 1995 ABC/Washington Post poll thought the federal government had not gone far enough to protect the environment. Money magazine found that its readers rated clean air and water above all other factors (even a low crime rate) in deciding where to live, according to its September 1995 survey.

Despite growth often being portrayed as a divisive issue with two opposed “camps,” it really should not be. In areas that have experienced rapid growth, public opinion surveys consistently show that a strong majority of the public will support policies to curb growth. A 1988 survey of Los Angeles residents found that 75 percent favoured slowing or stopping growth (59 percent slowing, 16 percent stopping).

A 1995 statewide survey in Colorado asked: “In general, what do you consider to be the one most important issue facing Colorado today?”. Respondents were not prompted to give any particular answer. “Too much growth” was the most common response, and was given more than twice as frequently as the next most common reply. The following are the top four of 15 categories of responses:

Growth, too much/too fast 34%

Crime/Drugs/Alcohol 16%

Economic problems 6%

Another question in this survey asked “How do you feel about the overall rate of population growth in the state of Colorado? Would you say that in the past two or three years the population of the state has grown too fast, at about the right rate, or would you say that Colorado is not growing fast enough?” The responses were:

Too fast 73%

About right 24%

Not fast enough 1%

Don’t know 2%

For a printable copy of the argument against Myth 8, citing references, click here