We seem to think, however, that economic development and preservation of the environment cannot go hand in hand. For most countries, economic development comes first, at the expense of the environment. It is high time everyone came to grips with the consequences of overusing the earth's resources, including the misuse of land in the pursuit of economic wealth.

不過，我們似乎認(rèn)為經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展與環(huán)境保護(hù)無法同時(shí)兼顧。對大部分國家來說，經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展是第一位的，為此可以不惜犧牲環(huán)境。然而，我們已過度使用了地球的資源，包括為了追求經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮而濫用的土地，如今該是我們認(rèn)真面對這個(gè)后果的時(shí)候了。