A new study from Michigan State University shows most residents in the state prefer policy makers to prioritize the environment over economic growth.

“The premise of the question was they have to make a trade off, they have to prioritize one or the other. Now that may not always be the case with environmental issues, but we wanted to force people to make a hard choice,” says Associate Professor Daniel Bergan.

Fifty-nine percent of poll respondents favor protecting the environment, even if economic risks such as job loss were possible for doing so. Bergan says understanding citizens’ perceptions of the tradeoffs between policies and risks can help inform policy making decisions.