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Many colleges combine the civil and environmental engineering degrees. And I hate to say this so bluntly, but engineers do not respect environmental scientists. Companies like to hire 1 licensed environmental engineer to sign documents, then they can use enviro scientists to fill the rest of the jobs because they can pay them less. But environmental engineers and scientists cannot do the jobs a civil engineer can unless they've been through the same courses/training that a civil engineer has had. Most civil engineering education includes at least a solid introduction to environmental engineering.

There may be more jobs in environmental engineering than civil in the future, but either a civil degree with a focus on environment or a dual degree will give you the best opportunity. Then you've got the option of either profession, in the event that there are no jobs available at the time you graduate for one.

The key is to work hard and focus on learning. A good engineer can learn to do the job of any other engineer, given time and a good teacher.

As for you, engineering student, kudos on seeking more education, the more letters you can put after your name the more money you can put in your pocket and the more respect/knowledge you can aquire. While you're at it, stay for a MS in civil or environmental to round it all out!

Check out the current demand for environmental engineers and their pay. Then do the same for say, civil engineers. I think you will find that there are more job openings for civil engineers than there are for environmental engineers, and that a civil engineer with 5+years experience will earn around $120K per year, while an environmental engineer with the same level of experience will earn around $80k per year (this is the case for Australia).

True, your question is asking about the future, but I say that the Earth has been in dire need of environmental scientists and engineers for many years now, but while we in the developed world like to talk about taking care of the environment, we do not put our money where our mouth is. We still value civil engineers more highly than environmental engineers.

As for respect: well I would say that an environmental engineer would garner more respect if they were civil engineers at the same time. There are some schools that offer such a double degree and if you are interested in the environment, I would say that you could do a lot more for it by being a civil engineer with training in environmental science.

As for job opportunities: given the state of our environment, you would think that there would be many more jobs in this field, but there are not that many and that is troublesome.