In an effort to provide greater awareness of the necessary policy decisions facing our elected and appointed officials, Energy Policy in the U.S.: Politics, Challenges, and Prospects for Change presents an overview of important energy policies and the policy process in the United States, including their history, goals, methods of action, and consequences.

In the first half of the book, the authors frame the energy policy issue by reviewing U.S. energy policy history, identifying the policy-making players, and illuminating the costs, benefits, and economic and political realities of currently competing policy alternatives. The book examines the stakeholders and their attempts to influence energy policy and addresses the role of supply and demand on the national commitment to energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources.

The latter half of the book delves into specific energy policy strategies, including economic and regulatory options, and factors that influence energy policies, such as the importance of international cooperation. Renewed interest in various renewable and nontraditional energy resources?for example, hydrogen, nuclear fusion, biomass, and tide motion?is examined, and policy agendas are explored in view of scientific, economic, regulatory, production, and environmental constraints. This book provides excellent insight into the complex task of creating a comprehensive energy policy and its importance in the continued availability of energy to power our way of life and economy while protecting our environment and national security.

Providing a sweeping analysis of energy policy in the U.S. since 1945, this book reviews important energy policies and the policy process. The first half of the book reviews energy policy history, identifying the policy-making players, the costs, benefits, and economic and political realities of competing policy alternatives. The second half explores specific energy policy strategies, including economic and regulatory options, and the factors that influence energy policy. The authors consider various renewable and nontraditional energy resources and policy agendas in view of scientific, economic, regulatory, production, and environmental constraints.

Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors Introduction Part 1. The Challenges in Crafting U.S. Energy Policy 1. The Political Realities of Energy Policy 2. Energy Policy in Transition 3. The art and Science of Crafting Public Policy 4. The Long Search for a Sustainable Energy Policy 5. Difficulties in Achieving a Balanced Energy Policy 6. What's on the Current Energy Policy Agenda? Part 2. Policies for Energy Transition 7. Crafting Policy with Subsidies and Regulations 8. Policies Shaped by Taxes and Market Mechanisms 9. International Cooperation on Energy Policy 10. Policies for a New Energy Future 11. Aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill: Prospects for Policy Changes Part 3. Appendies Appendix A: Chapter Discussion and Review Questions Appendix B: Timeline of Energy Policy Developments, 1950-2010 Appendix C: Energy-Related Acronyms Appendix D: Glossary References Index