The roads less traveled

Environmental economics has, in principle, invaluable contributions to make to the health and wellbeing of people and the environment within which they live. It is a discipline concerned with the material and energy sources of our lifestyles, and the biophysical implications of our production and consumption choices. The conversion of materials and energy for the creation and delivery of desired goods and services contributes to and enhances livelihoods and standards of living, and also lies at the heart of all environmental problems. One could even argue that, because of the central role the transformation of environmental goods and services plays in fueling our economies and supporting our lifestyles, environmental economics does, and must, lie at the center of any endeavor to sustain the human enterprise; it cannot come as an afterthought, once other economic and policy issues are addressed.