Indeed. It's scary that so many people don't get that, nor do they understand just how serious and present climate change is today. And she's an incredibly smart woman, which makes me really anxious. I mean, we're highly likely today to see our country vote in the party that not only has an embarrassingly weak climate agenda, but even refused to attend the climate change leaders debate... What does that say for our chances of fixing the problem? =/The problem about thinking of environmentalism as a "cost" is that you're assuming that there's no cost associated with having a polluted environment or battling climate change.
Sustainability by its own definition means economic as well as environmental, otherwise it doesn't meet the criteria.
We can't afford not to protect the environment, it's far cheaper to avoid or prevent environmental catastrophe than it is to remediate - if we can.
The economy isn't some creature that exists, its the interaction between everyone in a financial system and that system will fall apart if people are sick or in danger.
A government is in the unique position to promise major changes because it has the authority and capability to enact long term change.
Dont let decades of neoliberalism tell you that something isn't possible because it may directly impact business. These policies have to have regulatory impact assessments that assess the effects of implementation of major projects or laws. Part of the reason the Tories are so dangerous is they don't base their decisions on the outcomes of these assessments.
I work in ecology though, so I'm very biased towards climate change being the most important topic. Ironically that probably makes it easier for friends and family to dismiss my opinion on its importance =P