It’s a fad degree and exists to capture tuition from poorly informed students and parents. Environmental Science borrows from biology, chemistry, geology & physics but not enough to give you any actual expertise in these areas. Its a very watered down degree.
If you must tackle the environment do it in graduate school. You will have enough of a background to do more then wave your hands,
Rule-of-thumb for parents & college students:
Note this advice is for STEM students. Its the only advice I feel comfortable giving. Also I am going to comment on BS in science degrees only.
1. Avoid multidisciplinary degrees at the undergraduate level. Get a firm foundation in standard\traditional undergraduate STEM discipline.
2. The harder effort it takes in getting the degree usually means its the best long term economic value for you. (Not always true, person dependent, but its the way too bet!)
3. If your school allows minors (most do!) do it! Some minors are natural partners with your major. Examples math & physics, physics and math, computer science & math(or statistics), biology & chemistry. Even if you go no further then the BS it makes your BS more valuable! (Business & accounting might also be good choices also!) It’s also a way to satisfy that “hobby degree” urge!
4. If you can dual major, do it! There are several ways to look at why you would do this. If you plan to go to graduate school it makes you application more attractive and could give you a leg up in future grad courses. If you’re going to stay in science & engineering. The ones that have natural affinities to each other are the best to do. If you plan to go no further then the BS then a 2nd major in business is a very smart thing to do. And if that “hobby degree” interest is really hard to satisfy then do it here. Then you’ll at least have a “skill” fall back on when you find out that no one other then you cares about “-something-” studies.
A few comments regarding STEM. (IMO)
Not all STEM degrees are equal. In order of economic value least to best, the STEM degree standing alone: biology, chemistry, geology, math, CS & physics. However as I pointed out above combining them via minors & dual majors ups their value & your value considerably. Again the harder it is to obtain something the fewer people there are doing it usually the more valuable it is! Its a a rule-of-thumb that’s kind of true!
I remember reading somewhere in the past, that there was a pretty high correlation between IQ and income level. This makes sense to me in that the smarter someone is, the more likely they may be to see opportunities where others don’t.
I think that I also read that IQ/Income level correlation was independent of educational level as well.