ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, energy supplies, and inflation were closely intertwined in public debate during 1978. Critics of environmental regulation (and of all other forms of regulation as well) sought to put some of the blame for the rapid rise in prices on the costs of meeting pollution control requirements, though certainly the major sources of inflationary pressure were elsewhere. Rising energy prices were frequently blamed, too, but in fact the prices of petroleum and electricity rose more slowly than the bundle of other items making up the Consumer Price Index. While energy prices played a role, they were not leading the way.
Congress finally passed an energy bill that moved policy in the right direction—but not very far—as considerations of inflationary impact, environmental effects, and equity intruded deeply into the debate. The celebration of "Sun Day" enlivened the debate over how soon solar sources could make a major contribution to our energy requirements.
If the environmental cause often seemed on the defensive in the economic policy area, it could mark major gains in the political arena, particularly the protection of a huge section of the Alaskan wilderness from the encroachment of development—a long struggle that had been waged inconclusively for several years in the Congress and that was resolved at the last minute only by Executive intervention.
The most publicized environmental problems were those related to the control of toxic substances. Workplace hazards, seepage of dangerous materials from abandoned dumps, and other pollution problems made headlines from time to time throughout the year while the dozen agencies with a hand in the control effort sought to improve the effectiveness of federal policies. One of the most dramatic single events was the Amoco-Cadiz disaster, the largest oil spill so far and a reminder of the unsettled question of "who pays."
For agriculture, 1978 was a good year—bringing farmers higher prices and another increase in the nation's grain stores.
These are some of the main threads linking resource and environmental issues to economic and political policymaking. Along with a number of other topics, they are reviewed in this annual special issue of Resources.
A version of this article appeared in print in the January 1979 issue of Resources magazine.
