Energy and the Environment in Economic History

Both energy and the environment are inputs into production, influencing the economy and the overall welfare of the population. While the economy itself has been a central focus of economic history, energy and the environment have received more limited attention. On the energy side, the relative lack of attention reflects economic historians’ focus on labor, capital, and technology. Two areas that have received attention are the effects of energy on the spatial location of economic activity and the importance of coal for the Industrial Revolution. On the environmental side, the relative lack of attention likely reflects the focus on the positive aspects of industrialization and the difficulty finding data related to air, water, and land pollution. One environmental area that has received attention is water pollution from human waste, which had large impacts on mortality, particularly in cities. This chapter reviews long-term trends in energy use and water and air pollution, and then turns to the energy and environmental literatures in economic history. The conclusion offers thoughts about opportunities for further research on energy and the environment.