Natural enemies: An anatomy of environmental conflict

Sometimes people act contrary to environmentalist values because they rejec t those values. This is one kind of conflict: conflict in values. There is another kind of conflict in which people act contrary to environmentalist v alues even though they embrace those values: because they cannot afford to act in accordance with them. Conflict in priorities occurs not because peop le's values are in conflict, but rather because people's immediate needs ar e in conflict. Conflict in priorities is not only an environmental conflict , but also often an economic conflict-a conflict rooted in differing econom ic circumstance. Such a conflict cannot be reserved as an environmental con flict unless it is also resolved as an economic one.