The Environment should take precedence over economic development. Some people might say that economic development and a strong economy is more important than protecting the environment. They look for a capital profit before thinking how there actions effect the environment. So far economic growth has taken little account to of the environment. Capitalism has left us with a world where corporations own the environment, where the quest for capital profit has left us with a long-term environmental problem. As a result, the economy has grown and the environment has shrunk. The environment is precious and once it is destroyed there will be no turning back. Deforestation is one of the problems; the earth without forests is a picture that most people presently could not imagine. "The value of a forest is higher when it is left standing than it could be worth when it is harvested."# " 8 000 years ago, the earth was covered by approximately 14.8 billion acres of forests. The worlds forest area has now shrunk to 8.6 billion acres as a consequence of human exploitation most of which occurred in the last 50 years."# …