Abstract
Environmental economics is a rapidly expanding branch of the discipline. This is at least in part due to an increasing awareness of the seriousness of the world's environmental problems. Such recognition creates a demand for economic evaluations of environmental change. There has also been a shift in the supply curve. One reason for economists being increasingly interested in environmental issues is that such issues pose important theoretical and empirical challenges. Another reason for increased attention being paid to environmental economics is that economists are human beings too and hence also may be concerned about our common future.