ABSTRACT
Much needs to be done to provide cleaner air and water as more waste products are created by an expanding population, as consumption rises per capita, and as people concentrate increasingly in metropolitan areas. In the United States the major national commitment to improve the quality of air and water during this decade can be compared with the goal of the 1960s to land a man on the moon. The cases are similar in that we start not knowing how the task is to be done, how much it will cost, nor how the costs will affect us. In order to avoid later disenchantment with environmental programs, strenuous efforts must be made to focus attention on the full cost of each action so that choices may be made, not on the basis of emotion, but on evaluation of the relationship between costs and benefits.
