Final answer:
Until the 1970s, it is true that economic costs were typically prioritised over environmental costs. Industries often neglected the latter in their pricing strategies, leading to environmental degradation. The environmental movement in the 1970s marked a change towards greater consideration for environmental costs in policy making.
Step-by-step explanation:
To address the question of whether economic costs were more important than environmental costs until the 1970s, the statement is generally true. Historically, industries and policymakers prioritised economic growth over environmental concerns. The market revolution brought significant transformations in the United States, integrating economies and bringing about industrialization, which intensified the focus on economic growth. During this period, factories incorporated private costs into their pricing but often neglected social and environmental costs, such as pollution and GHG emissions.
It wasn't until the environmental movement gained momentum in the 1970s that there was a substantial shift in awareness and policy to account for environmental costs. Before that, externalities like pollution were not adequately included in the cost of production, leading to environmental degradation. This reality is underscored by the global challenge of striking a balance between production and environmental quality, a dilemma faced by all economies irrespective of their income level or market orientation.
Thus, it is accurate to say that until the 1970s, economic considerations overshadowed environmental ones in industrial production and policy making. However, subsequent environmental protection policies attempted to mitigate this by imposing limits on pollution and by exploring market-oriented solutions for reducing pollution at lower costs.