Conservation, “X-Inefficiency” and Efficient Use of Natural Resources

The early conservation movement in the United States was initiated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 when he called together a conference of state governors. The premise of the conservation movement, sometimes pointed to as Roosevelt’s most lasting achievement, was that natural resources are being used too rapidly and that political controls should be used to conserve the proper amount of resources for future generations. Increasingly, since the rise in energy prices associated with the OPEC oil embargo, the conservation of natural resources has been a topic of debate in the popular media as well as in academic circles. Now (as in Roosevelt’s day) the conservation movement is closely related to international rivalry and concern about dependence of the U.S. on foreign resources (especially oil). Today, as during the initial conservation movement, the problem of inefficient resource use can be traced directly to current and past government policies

Volume 3, Number 4 (1979)