The environmental industry has overcome many obstacles in the past 30 years – beginning with the creation of the industry to deal with the disasters brought about by a century of industrial progress without concern for waste handling. After the initial crises were handled, the industry settled in for the long haul, but as its practitioners have aged and concern over environmental issues dimmed, some are questioning whether the profession is ready and able to handle upcoming environmental issues.

The environmental industry as we know it was created in the 1970s as the result of the passage of the Environmental Protection Act and the raised public interest in protecting "Mother Earth." Crises such as the Love Canal and Bhopal brought the issue of pollution and its effects to the forefront of the nation's consciousness. Prior to this, environmental professionals were civil engineers who specialized in sanitary engineering and dealt with wastewater treatment. Initially, these engineers, along with staff assigned to "make the issue go away," were the only people addressing the problem.

By the 1980s, most businesses had realized that the environmental problems identified in the 1970s were entrenched and long-term. Due to public and government pressure, significant resources and management talents were focused on environmental issues and solutions. The industry grew.

However, by the 1990s, environmental issues began to decline in importance to both business and the public. The worst sites and abuses had been corrected to the satisfaction of the government and the public, and environmental work became more maintenance rather than prevention and clean up. While, during the 1980s, they were involved with top management in solving the worst problems, environmental professionals never became involved in the core business functions – they remained an ancillary function, isolated from manufacturing and core business operations. Also, since the public furor had died down, pro-active environmental initiatives have been harder to undertake. Many environmental professionals today find themselves working for low- to mid-level managers who, like themselves, are under 45 and have little actual knowledge of environmental disasters. In addition, the original environmental professionals are nearing retirement.

Now, after 30 years of living with environmental concerns, the public is complacent and government regulations do not have the same "bite" they had before. However, while the crises of the 1970s may have been handled, there is a growing awareness of global environmental and human health concerns – concerns that could make past environmental issues seem trivial. The environmental profession stands at a crossroads. It is in a transitional state where the profession as a whole is thought to be superfluous when, in actuality, it needs to rally its forces more than ever to face the challenges ahead.

What does the future hold for the environmental profession? Many within the field think that environmental concerns will eventually push our society to integrate principles of sustained development into all levels of government and business, a goal that will take a lot of work to reach. But since no serious shifts in resources have yet occurred, the notion remains a hazy one. Industry observers say that if the environmental profession is to meet its challenges, its members must develop new skills and forge innovative new programs. But what is happening, more and more often, is that environmental professionals are leaving environmental health and safety issues for more lucrative fields. Professional organizations have noted this exodus in the form of decreasing memberships and smaller-than-usual turnouts at professional functions. In their report, "Occupational Safety Expert Retirements, Departures Prompt Concern for the Future," the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) warns that, "the ‘graying' of occupational safety and health professionals, with mass retirements in the next few years" will deplete the field of its trained professionals.

To remedy this, many believe that a systematic examination of the environmental profession is in order. As it just so happens, one such examination is in the works thanks to a partnership between the Center for Environmental Innovation and the Wharton School in Pennsylvania. Hopefully this study will offer the ailing profession a prescription of the steps it needs to take in order to return to health. If a resolution is to come about, it is likely that it will involve demonstrating a greater degree of communication with business interests. One observer has pointed out that environmental professionals need to learn the language of business to be able to communicate what's at stake in terms that everyone understands. This is not an end solution in itself, of course, but it's a good place to start.

Source: Feeling Green around the Gills?
Richard MacLean
Environmental Protection, Nov. 2001
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