US National Energy Policy: Promoting sustainable use of energy resources?
Fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) have been the predominant energy source since the Industrial Revolution, and the modern capitalist economy depends on them. As of today, they comprise 78% of the worlds and 90% of the US energy supply. Environmental and social consequences that have not been taken into account by the market, and their eminent depletion in a near future have created concerns about the need for greater energy efficiency and, most importantly, alternative energy resources that are renewable and environmentally friendly, in order to achieve a more sustainable society. Historically, the US government has not paid much attention to energy concerns and consequently has not developed an integrated long term energy policy. A task force from the Bush Administration has come up with a set of guidelines for the creation of a National Energy Policy. This research project aims to analyze this policy in terms of its goals and stipulations to determine if it promotes sustainable use of energy resources. To achieve this, a set of United Nations sustainable development indicators relating to institutional actions will be applied to the policy. Questions based on sustainable development values will also be addressed to the reading. Specific guidelines will be analyzed individually to see how they contain values of sustainability. I expect the National Energy Policy to fail in this aspect because it still envisions fossil fuels as the main energy source for the future and puts energy efficiency over alternative sources as the principal mean for energy conservation.
School:
University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras
Department:
N/A
Research Advisor:
Margarita Alario
Department of Research Advisor:
Environmental Sociology
Year of Publication:
2002