A brief history of U.S. energy policy

The Trump White House’s assault on Green Energy initiatives and his stated determination to maintain fossil fuels including coal as our nation’s primary sources of energy have caused me to reflect on conflicts surrounding our nation’s energy policy over the last half century.

Many readers will recall the OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973-74 initiated by Arab nation oil producers because of US support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. The embargo created a shortage of oil in the US because of our heavy dependence on imported Arab oil at the time. Domestic gasoline prices increased from $ 0.39 to $0.53 per gallon or approximately 40%. Attention turned to increasing domestic production and decreasing our dependence on Arab oil. The embargo lasted just a few months, but prices did not return to the pre-embargo level. Another oil crisis challenged us during the Carter Administration because of the Iranian Revolution which disrupted oil supplies coming out of the Middle East while global oil demand was increasing leading to a panic in the market. The price for a gallon of gasoline in the US rose from $0.72 to $1.42 from 1979 to 1980.

President Carter’s response to the energy crisis emphasized conservation of oil through a multi-prong approach which included various government restrictions on consumption (recall the double nickel speed limit), higher fuel taxes to discourage consumption and technology to increase fuel consumption efficiency and develop alternative energy sources. The argument for conservation was based on the assertion that fossil fuels exist in finite quantities and need to be preserved for future generations and for the industries that rely on petroleum for purposes other than energy such as medicines, synthetic fibers, chemicals, tires, etc. Carter also argued that the growing consumption of fossil fuels needs to be tempered to protect our planet from pollution of our air, water and land. Mercury, sulfur and soot were the pollutants singled out as the dangerous pollutants. In response, the EPA was created and the Clean Air Act was given enforcement teeth during the Nixon era which combined imposed meaningful restrictions on fossil fuel consumption, particularly coal. Little was being said about CO2 and other heat capturing gases at the time.

With the defeat of Carter in 1980 and the emergence of the Reagan era (1981-1989), the emphasis on conservation was ridiculed and abandoned. We returned to a policy of increased domestic oil production coupled with importation from non-Arab producers and increased consumption to meet the demands of a growing US economy. Little attention was given to the development of alternative energy sources or fossil fuel conservation.

Scientists began to warn us about the increase in greenhouse gases caused by the increased global consumption of oil, natural gas and coal in the 1980s. Early findings of global warming or environmental climate change along with long range computer model projections of the global impact of climate change went unnoticed or unheeded until the Clinton Administration’s last few years in the late 1990s. George W. Bush’s Administration (2001-2009) gave fossil fuel consumption as a cause of environmental climate change little attention and the production and consumption of fossil fuels continued to grow although the role of coal was diminished in the US as natural gas was recognized as less of a pollution source and less expensive than coal.

The Obama Administration (2009-2017) embraced the growing scientific evidence revealing increased fossil fuel consumption as the primary source of environmental climate change and introduced more aggressive Green Energy initiatives to replace our heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Those initiatives were abandoned during the first Trump Administration (2017-2021) but Green Energy was gaining support from American consumers, state and local governments and from the American business and industry community. The Biden Administration (2021-2025) was successful in winning Congressional support for new Green Energy policies with both carrot and stick approaches to accelerate Green Energy development and growth.

The second Trump Administration has brought a “drill baby drill” mentality back with a deemphasis on Green Energy and a renewed emphasis on fossil fuels as mentioned at the beginning of this piece. Even coal fired power plants are receiving direct government funds to extend their lifetime for years. Trump insists to this day that climate change brought on by fossil fuel consumption is a Chinese hoax.

The wealth and political influence of the fossil fuel industry explain the history outlined above more than any other factor. The industry has been able to generate its own self-serving set of “facts” to dispute the claims of the scientific community regarding fossil fuel consumption and environmental climate change. The industry has convinced American conservative office holders that our economy will suffer greatly if we impose more severe restrictions on fossil fuel production and consumption. Thus, we see this constant advance and retreat in US national energy policy based upon which political party controls the White House and Congress. If there is hope for a more fact-based rational energy policy, it will be found in what happens with US consumer choices, local and state level decisions and American business and industry considerations rather than a long-term sensible policy emerging out of Washington DC.