Why is there a conflict between environmental groups and energy producing groups?

Answer 1

The debate got into full swing in the 1960's and one must remember that it started before so called "Eco friendly" energy like solar or wind energy was produced for the commercial market. Since it has raged on until now one must remember that Solar and Wind energies are also costly to produce, in that the wind turbine generators and solar cells cost a fair bit of money to maintain and install.

That said, the energy producing groups, in order to produce cost effective energy, generally utilise nuclear or fossil fuels. Both of these have known impacts on the planet. Although the debate mainly focuses on how much impact these have on the planet. Environmentalists believe that the environmental damage done by the "Eco unfriendly" sources are high whereas energy producers believe differently. Thus the reason for the conflict. It's not so much as to whether there is an impact of utilising the different energy sources, it's more on the benefits versus the costs, which include environmental and financial costs.