A dramatic rise in world oil prices and skyrocketing domestic gas prices resulting from the 1973–1974 oil crisis prompted a recognized need for a national energy policy in the United States. One challenge is that the policies we put in place today will likely outlive the context in which they were created—and for quite a long time. Joel Darmstadter's retrospective on the energy crisis, Stephen Brown and Charles Mason’s examination of lifting the oil export ban, and Joseph Aldy's argument for eliminating domestic fossil fuel subsidies in the latest Resources magazine illustrate this point. Other articles from this issue include:
Do Driving Restrictions Reduce Congestion? Lessons from Beijing
Ping Qin and Jintao Xu
Pro-environment business behaviors are driven by a rich set of political and social factors that affect profitability—all of which conservation advocates can use as leverage to motivate change.
Groundwater Markets: Managing a Critical, Hidden Resource
Yusuke Kuwayama
Although 95 percent of usable freshwater comes from underground, withdrawals of this water are largely unmonitored and unregulated in the United States. By developing groundwater markets, governments can provide an incentive for more sustainable pumping of this critical resource.
Private Funding of Public Parks: Assessing the Role of Philanthropy
Margaret A. Walls
Private donations account for an increasingly large percentage of city parks' revenue stream, but a new survey of park directors reveals a discrepancy between how this funding is used and the most pressing needs of today’s parks.
To view all articles from this issue of Resources, visit our website or download the Resources app for iPad, iPhone, or Android.
