There are many pressing concerns for energy policy today.  One could argue that energy independence and security is the biggest.  One could also argue that climate change is the biggest.  For energy independence and security, the EIA reports that we relied on 45% of our oil needs from external sources in 2011.  This percentage has been slowly decreasing.  In June 2013, about 40% of our imports were from OPEC nations.  The Western Hemisphere accounts for about 53% of our imports and the Persian Gulf 23% of our imports.  In effect, unrest in the Middle East puts at risk about 10% of our oil supply.  We have seen oil shocks in the past and were able to endure them.  Climate change is also a very real concern.  While the evidence seems clear to me, scientists are still arguing about the real impacts of human activities.  This only clouds the issue and has limited the impact on the environment from rising to the top.  Perhaps a more fundamental current concern for energy policy today is our own government with the vast partisanship evident in our politics that is preventing any real change.

The basic structure of our federal government is to address the interests of all.  This is well stated in by Sullivan in his description of the legislative process:  “One of the most practical safeguards of the American democratic way of life is this legislative process with its emphasis on the protection of the minority, allowing ample opportunity to all sides to be heard and make their views known.  The fact that a proposal cannot become a law without consideration and approval by both Houses of Congress is an outstanding virtue of our bicameral legislative system.  The open and full discussion provided under the Constitution often results in the notable improvement of a bill by amendment before it becomes law or in the eventual defeat of an inadvisable proposal.”  This concept extends beyond Congress to the executive branch with the President’s veto power and to the judicial branch with the ability to rule a law unconstitutional.  In the end, without creating a coalition, it is difficult to pass a law.

Partisanship is certainly very evident today with the lack of an approved federal budget since 2009.  Lowry noted a correlation between partisanship and energy policy.  He further noted that shock events such as high energy prices have driven salience in Congress and resulted in bipartisan support that resulted in strong regulatory policies.  However, the price shocks caused by oil have been short lived.  Oil is easy to transport and producers release more oil when prices are high.  This in effect reduces the price of oil and our desire to continue to pursue the energy policy after we no longer feel the sharp pain in our wallet.

Energy policy is especially challenging since fossil fuels have a high energy return on investment.  In essence, fossil fuels create economic value that is not matched by other sources of energy.  As a result, fossil fuels are widely used in many applications across our society such as power generation, transportation, and common products such as plastics.  All of these products have long supply chains, long term infrastructure investments, and many jobs dependent on them.  To put a product at risk when the product is adding value will create a challenge for our law makers who have constituents in their district that are dependent on those jobs.  As a result, some lawmakers will fight the legislation often blocking it completely or diluting it to the point of no effect.  This issue is at the root of the problem.

As noted by the lesson 4 reading material, a bipartisan coalition is needed to pass an energy policy.  As a result, the coalition represents legislators from many areas that have constituents that represent different energy sources or views.  This ends up creating a policy that attempts to appease each energy producer.  As a result, if the goal is to reduce fossil fuel consumption to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the bill may need to contain language to explore new areas such as Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or the off shore regions previously protected to gain the support of oil dependent lawmakers.  Bending to the exploration of new fossil fuel sources is counter to the goal of reducing fossil fuel sources since new sources only serve to keep fuel prices low and reduce the incentive to invest in the alternatives.  As a result, the policy fails to provide any clear direction.  In the end, the many factions served by a wide bipartisan policy make it easy to attack which reduces its durability as discussed by Carlson and Fri.

To be successful, the policy ultimately needs to provide value.  Otherwise as shown through history, if the new energy does not provide value or a new desirable feature, there will be no market force to cause the shift from the efficient and inexpensive fossil fuels in use today to an alternative energy source.  How do we convince people that the carbon released to the atmosphere or energy independence is more important than continuing the use of fossil fuels when their job may well be tied to fossil fuels?  Until this can be done, partisan forces will fight against effective energy policies.  The way forward today is through small consistent steps built upon prior successes to slowly move us away from fossil fuels.  This change has been slowly moving forward since the 1970’s and will likely take several more decades.

In summary, the most pressing concern for energy policy today is partisanship.  This is because partisanship will block any effective energy policy in today’s environment.  Partisanship has created a stalemate.

Energy Information Administration.  Energy in Brief: How dependent are on foreign oil?  www.eia.gov.  10 May 2013.

Sullivan, J.  How Our Laws are Made, Revised, and Updated.  United States House of Representatives Presented by Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, July 24, 2007.

Lowry, W.  Disentangling Energy Policy from Environmental Policy.  Social Science Quarterly, Volume 89, Number 5, December 2008.

Carlson, A., and Fri, R.  Designing a Durable Energy Policy.  Daedalus, 2013.