Abstract: As the 1980s draw to a close, apathy and indifference about energy policy are once again vanishing after a prolonged reign - but not for any of the usual reasons. Fuel supplies generally are ample and priced to sell; suppliers are numerous and shrilly competitive. The Strait of Hormuz seems increasingly hard to distinguish from any other place that American high school students cannot find on a map. The new urgency that is building has little in common with the fears evoked by the energy crises of the 1970s, although the deep vulnerabilities exposed at that time remain very much with us. Instead, energy issues now dominate an environmental protection agenda of unprecedented scope and significance, both in the United States and abroad. The fevered speculation that once preceded meetings of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has given way to concern about potentially catastrophic increases in global temperatures. Acid rain has proved a more enduring and intractable problem than gasoline lines. Nuclear power proponents have substituted arguments about their industry's contribution to pollution control for dishonorably retired claims that their product might one day be too cheap to meter. After thermonuclear weapons, the burning of fossil fuels is emerging as the greatest threat to the habitability of the planet. Global warming is for now the preeminent, although by no means the only, manifestation of that threat; fossil fuel combustion is primarily responsible for the escalating carbon-dioxide emissions that account for at least one-half of the projected atmospheric warming.1 No responsible national policymaker Ralph Cavanagh, Chris Calwell, David Goldstein, and Robert Watson are on the staff of the Energy Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council. They gratefully acknowledge the encouragement and financial support of the Florence and John Schumann Foundation.
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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