While the economy hits the skids, environmental issues are taking the back burner.

Is it possible for America to save money and save the planet?

A recent Gallup poll found that 66% of Americans said the economic crisis was hurting their personal finances.  Further, people are more willing to save the environment over economic growth, but not by much.

It’s misrepresented in the main stream media that the problems with the environment and the US economy are inversely related. There’s is no proof that sacrifices of one actually hurt the other.

Anne Thompson, Chief Environmental Correspondent for NBC-Universal,

How do we become less dependent on foreign oil, that is first and foremost in everyone’s mind.  I think that is what’s driving people’s interests to find more environmentally friendly ways to do all sorts of things today.

While there’s panic on Wall Street, the message is that the protection of the environment is directly related to a stabilization of our economy.

For more on the environment’s role in the economy, click here.

Photo by the USDA.

Click below for more of our interview with Anne Thompson.

Q: What environmental issues do you think are most important to your viewers?

A: I think the first one is the price of energy.  How do we lower that price and how do we become less dependent on foreign oil, that is first and foremost in everyone’s mind.  I think that is what’s driving people’s interests to find more environmentally friendly ways to do all sorts of things today.

Q: What does the future of eco-journalism look like?

A: I think we’re just beginning.  I think what is happening to our planet is really the story of our lifetime. All these changes, whether it’s what we use to drive a car, how we heat our homes, how we light our homes, those changes aren’t going to happen overnight and it’s going to take a while to figure them out and the first technology we use isn’t going to be the last technology.