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20 N. Y. L. F. 751 (1974-1975)
The Energy Crisis and Environmental Law: Paradox of Conflict and Reinforcement

handle is hein.journals/nyls20 and id is 755 raw text is: THE ENERGY CRISIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: PARADOX OF CONFLICT AND REINFORCEMENT LYNTON K. CALDWELL* INTRODUCTION: How MANY CRISES? The interrelating crises of energy and environment are among the more significant factors in the expansion of law in our times., The root causes of both crises are to be found in the value structures and economic behaviors of modem society.2 Although the physical crises are real, they are but symptomatic. The basic or root cause of this growing sequence of crises of population, food, social instability, energy, and environment is perceived by a relatively small but ap- parently growing school of thought as a megacrisis of the uncon- trolled growth of human societies in a finite world.3 The present socio-ecological disorders signal the approach of modem society's * Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and Professor of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Dennis W. King, Indiana Uni- versity School of Law, in the preparation of this article. 1. In the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act, 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 751 et seq. (Supp. 1975), Congress recognized the existence of a national energy crisis which is a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare . . . . Id. § 751(a)(3). The Act, however, attributed the cause of this crisis to inadequate domestic production, environmental constraints, and the unavailability of imports sufficient to satisfy domestic demand .... Id. § 751(a)(1). See generally S. H. DOLE & R. A. PAPETTI, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF ENERGY: A REPORT PREPARED FOR THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION (1973); S.D. FREEMAN, ENERGY: THE NEW ERA (1974); ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: A COLLISION OF CRISES (I. Goodwin ed. 1974); NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING TASK FORCE ON ENERGY, U.S. ENERGY PROSPECTS: AN ENGINEERING VIEWPOINT (1974). 2. Interactions of energy, environment, and economics are treated in the following publications: T.L. BROWN, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (1971); J.M. FOWLER, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (1974); GROWING AGAINST OURSELVES: THE ENERGY-ENVIRONMENT TANGLE (S.L. Kwee & J.S.R. Mullender, eds. 1972); Gerber, Energy Growth and the Environment, 89 PUB. UTIL. FORT., June 8, 1972, at 69; Green, Energy Needs versus Environmental Pollution: A Reconciliation?, 156 SCI. 1448 (1967); Hirst, Energy vs. Environment: The Coming Struggle, 36 THE LIVING WILDERNESS 43 (1972-73); Hodgetts & Luthans, The Ecological Challenge Facing Utilities, 89 PUB. UTIL. FORT., May 27, 1972, at 23; Netschert, Energy vs. Environment, 51 HARV. BUS. REV. 24 (1973); Train, Energy Problems and Environ- mental Concerns, 29 SCI. & PUB. AFF., Sept. 1973, at 43. 3. Cf. the following reports to the Club of Rome: D.L. MEADOWS, THE LIMITS TO GROWTH (1973); M. MEASAROVIC & E. PESTEL, MANKIND AT THE TURNING POINT: ORGANIC VERSUS CANCEROUS GROWTH (REPORT II) (1974).