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An array of economic markets in mineral resources is being displaced by a politically dominated energy social system. International energy decisions are now part of regular diplomatic activity. Growing governmental involvement in energy activities has contributed to politicizing relations among energy suppliers and energy consumers within nations. The environmental and energy social movements are expressions of conflict between social strata. Energy and environment issues are selected and acted upon in the context of this wider political confrontation. The debate between "growth" and "steady state" reflects the struggle between two forms of utopian ideology within the energy social system. Two effects of the emergence of the energy social system are: (1) a redrawing of the axes of alliance and conflict among national states and among groups within states; and (2) the reduction in the supremacy of the capitalist market as a cultural institution in favor of political action governing resource allocation.

An array of economic markets in mineral resources is being displaced by a politically dominated energy social system. International energy decisions are now part of regular diplomatic activity. Growing governmental involvement in energy activities has contributed to politicizing relations among energy suppliers & energy consumers within nations. The environmental & energy social movements are expressions of conflict between social strata. Energy & environment issues are selected & acted on in the context of this wider political confrontation. The debate between the "growth" & "steady state" reflects the struggle between two forms of utopian ideology within the energy social system. Two effects of the emergence of the energy social system are: (1) a redrawing of the axes of alliance & conflict among national states & among groups within states; & (2) reduction in the supremacy of the capitalist market as a cultural institution in favor of political action governing resource allocation. HA.

Technological intervention to improve the qual ity of the environment is an immediate need. The current environmental crisis is rooted in the character of the society which develops and uses technology. The relation of society to its physical environment is governed by the society's defini tions of its resources and the rules evolved for regulating social relations with respect to the environment. Fundamen tal solutions to environmental problems must, therefore, in clude social solutions. To stem deterioration of the quality of the environment will require an examination of those rules regulating the relation between individuals and the collective.

It is stated that technological intervention to improve the quality of the environment is an immediate need. The US gov is now organizing its resources to cope with the problems of environment. Proposals for a Dept of the Environment are before Congress. An Environmental Quality Council has been created. Currently, management responsibilities for programs in these areas are diffused among a number of gov agencies. Documentation on society & its environment is needed. Res should not be formulated in terms of physical environmental concepts but in terms of sociol'al concepts. New ways of thinking about soc perception & soc org under changing physical environmental conditions are needed. Talcott Parsons THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL ACTION is viewed as providing a theoretical frame of reference for the new thinking needed. The following aspects of the problem are considered: the nature of the environmental threat; society, personality & environmental usufruct; the econ's of common environmental property; emerging environmental law; & organizing for environmental planning. Under these headings, the articles contained in this issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences are briefly summarized & commented upon. It is felt that a re-examination is needed of the forms of public & admin'ive authority & of the types of professional & instit'al competence required to discharge public functions. There is a public demand for collective responsibility. While the individual should accept responsibility for the collective, in his own actions, this may have the unanticipated consequence of extending bodies of law designed to constrain the individual actor to be sensitive to the requirement of general welfare as he uses or enjoys some environmental resource. To stem deterioration of the quality of the environment will require an examination of those rules regulating the relation between individuals & the collective. Modified HA.