ABSTRACT
You need not be a grasshopper or a rabbit to understand that energy and economics are connected, cross-connected, interconnected, and married. From the point of view of economists, the most important factors affecting energy use are its availability and market price. With regard to its price, distortion of its real price by government subsidies leads to inefficient use. From the environmental professional’s point of view, though, the major factors of concern are the externalities-on the negative side, pollution and user costs of resource depletion; on the positive side, conservation and renewable energy development and usage.
