US Energy Transition: On Getting from Here to There

JUL 01, 1991

President Bush’s recently released National Energy Strategy suggests that the US can meet its future energy needs without pain or tears. Other studies argue that the country can only avoid dysfunction by creating an energy program that is less dependent on foreign supplies and meets three broad, overarching national goals: economic vitality, environmental quality and strategic security.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881263

John H. Gibbons

Peter D. Blair

Uncommon events like the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant meltdown and the Persian Gulf war as well as such unremitting problems as global climate change and the balance‐of‐payments deficit point up the urgency of dealing with the nation’s energy issues. Congress is now deliberating President Bush’s National Energy Strategy. The topic is hardly a new one. In fact, in the words of that immortal American philosopher Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

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References

1. “Annual Energy Outlook,” U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. (1990).
2. For a more detailed discussion of the nuclear dilemma see C. W. Forsberg, A. M. Weinberg, Annu. Rev. Energy 15, 133 (1990).
3. S. Sklar, Annu. Rev. Energy 15, 121 (1990).
4. R. Bevington, A. Rosenfeld, Sci. Am., September 1990, p. 76.
5. “National Energy Strategy: Powerful Ideas for America,” U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. (1991).
6. A comprehensive look at the technological R&D horizon appears in “Energy Technology R&D: What Could Make a Difference,” report no. ORNL‐6541, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn. (1989).
7. This subject is examined in more depth in “Replacing Gasoline: Alternatives for Light‐Duty Vehicles,” Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, D.C. (1990).

More about the Authors

John H. Gibbons. University of Tennessee.

Peter D. Blair. University of Pennsylvania.