Comparing The United States And Western European Countries

America should pursue alternative energy sources because “With only 5 percent of the worlds population, the United States consumes almost one-quarter (22.5%) of global energy”. (((Josef Bram, 15))) With such a small percentage of the world’s population and still one of the largest consumers of energy the U.S should be looking for new and better ways to generate energy. Currently The U.S’s energy is supplied using traditional sources. According to Canadian scientist and policy analyst Vaclav Smil “Todays energy 29% from coal, 33% from oil and gas, and 33% from soft-energy (alternative sources)” (((Smil, 47))) Most of the energy we use on a daily basis is not produced using clean methods. Some alternative energy sources that are already in place within the United Stats are wind, solar, and hydraulic.

The Alternative energy industry in the United States has been at a steady rate of growth for the past decade, however there is still controversy over the use of renewable energies, their impact on the economy, and their impact on the environment. As controversial as the topic is, the argument boils down to a moral need to support environmental regulations, and an economical need to sustain domestic growth in the Energy industry of the United States. Mainly, the question is can alternative energy effective replace fossil fuels? There are of course arguments for both sides of this question.

Conference Focus: Implement a new policy within five years to move into renewable energy, with a focus on solar power, while decreasing the use of fossil fuels. This policy will examine the barriers to implement new renewable energy technologies that will decrease the carbon dioxide emissions and identify ways to overcome these barriers through incentives, tax breaks, and attitudinal changes.

The United States must re-examine many policies previously accepted as reasonable, especially its own national energy policy. As the largest overall and per capita energy consumer in the world, the U.S. needs to decide upon a reasonable source of energy for the foreseeable future, especially since its energy needs will increase dramatically during that time. With political instability likely to remain the norm in the Middle East, oil continues to be an energy source of questionable reliability; in addition, current estimates of worldwide reserves suggest we may in fact run out of oil entirely in the next fifty years. Natural gas reserves are in fairly short supply too, and costs limit its

As President Nixon stated, “Where energy is concerned, we, the American people, shall be the sole masters of our fate.” The logic of self-sufficiency resonated very well with American culture whose creation story relies on defiant independence and self-sufficiency. Why did the U.S. President lead the public in this direction? The proximal cause was clearly tied to the OPEC oil embargo; after decades of linking U.S. national interests in the Middle East to oil, people welcomed the idea of cutting the resented means of economic leverage. President Nixon’s project was supposed to reach energy independence in 1980, but in reality it will take at least four decades

In “Alternative Energy Should Not Be Pursued” the author argues that alternative energy sources are in fact more costly and less efficient than traditional energy sources. Environmentalists and advocates of renewable energy propose that the world can be powered without producing harmful greenhouse gases via renewable resources; but the author argues, with the help of experts Peter Van Doren and Jeremy Taylor, that the higher costs would override any benefits. The United States government has bolstered the renewable energy industry since the 1970s with incentives and subsidies despite there being little to no economic benefit to promoting such types of energy production. The author also seeks to show that this is not a battle between “Big Oil” and an “infant industry,” but this alleged

Energy is more than a utility that keeps the lights on in our homes or the gas in our cars; it’s a foundational resource that plays a key role in a nation’s ability to provided economic opportunity and basic services and security to its people. As such, it is imperative to a nation’s overall security that it develops/acquires access to energy, ensures energy needs are properly met and supplies are readily available, and disruptions minimized. Policy directs that the U.S. has a role in developing energy security throughout the world. For the U.S., we’ve long recognized the importance of energy security and have gone to great lengths to ensure its protection by developing depth and breadth in energy capabilities,

In this final assignment for Environmental Policy, Regulation, and Law, I will discuss the Energy Policy Act. This discussion will be geared toward the current usage of renewable energy with reference to the incentives created in the Energy Policy Act. The introduction into this topic will include a brief synopsis of the act’s history. Following the history of the Energy Policy Act, there will be a discussion and argument for the act and its present incentives for the use of renewable energy sources. In conclusion, the expected future of the Energy Policy Act and the closing argument for its regulation will be covered.

The big countries like US, Canada, Brazil, China and Germany still have the greatest renewable power generation capacity. These countries seem to rule when it comes to renewable energy source. For the first time, China’s new renewable power capacity has passed new fossil fuel and nuclear capacity. In the 2014 edition of the REN21 report it states that, while Europe and North America have become the top markets for renewable energy, other countries have seemed to pick up some of baggage and could also be the future leaders of it. REN21 has found so

In fact, Jimmy Carter stated, “[America] is the most wasteful nation … use twice as much energy per person [than] Germany, Japan, and Sweden” (Carter, Primary Resources: Proposed Energy Policy, 1977). It was certainly a double-edged sword to many Americans since the environmental crisis was occurring at the same time were focused on conservations and cleanup efforts and to reduce oil drilling, meanwhile oil supply was almost nonexistent and being used so carelessly that it became an inevitable to drill for more oil. The dependence on oil is evident in a graph where in the late 1970s, petroleum energy consumption is nearly at 40 quadrillion Btu, and natural gas was at 20 quadrillion Btu (07 Environment-Oil Crisis Readings.pdf). Alternative energy sources were considered, but these sources were just as dangerous, if not worse to produce, due to their cost and power per unit. In fact, it was a talking point in Carter’s televised speech to seek for more alternative resources, use the most of what was left, and “apply stricter safety standards to nuclear energy” after the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island (Carter, Primary Resources: Proposed Energy Policy,

The United States of America is suffering from a downward trend in competitiveness. From a policymaker’s standpoint, it makes sense for a focus to be on the events most pressing. It could be conceded, however, that a continued dependence on nonrenewable energy could create unwanted ties with extremist nations in the Middle East, while also being a silent killer on the home front. When lawmakers do not take the initiative to make changes in an effort to improve the quality of life and the life expectancy for individuals in a society, it is up to the general public to make this change.

The policy being discussed is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and its role on the spending allocated to energy programs in the United States. The findings of the study were that states that received energy funding didn’t spend all the funds allocated to them. The study tested the implementation success of the ARRA energy program and examines factors that led to some states to spend a larger portion of their ARRA funds than others.

“Wind energy generates about 1.4 percent of the world’s electricity”(Ball n.p.). The U.S. is doing ok with renewable energy but it could put more resources into expanding our technology. “A 2012 study for world wildlife-Netherlands by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants ranked the U.S. 15th in clean-tech sales relative to gross domestic product, with only 0.3 percent of our economy based on clean-tech”(Yang n.p.). The U.S. has always tried to make itself number one. It would be logical to think that they would want to continue that tradition, even in the green technology field. The U.S. would have to improve their clean technology to be respected on a global level. “Germany has had policies in place for decades that have resulted in the installation of somewhere around half of the world’s solar panels in its country- even though it has far less sun than places like California”(Yang n.p.). The U.S. contains several sunny places where photovoltaic cells could thrive. They would be able to catch tons of energy. Those places that receive massive amounts of sunlight are a gold mine of untapped renewable energy. “California is an excellent example of what the United States has the potential to become. The Golden State enacted the pioneering 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act, which sent unambiguous signals to the energy markets that the state is serious about combating climate change and that green technology will play a crucial role in

On the other hand, many of the environmental problems the world faces today – including climate change, air pollution, oil spills, and acid rain – result from our dependence on fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels produces heat-trapping gases that are the main cause of the ongoing rise in global atmospheric temperatures. Therefore, as a result of the "shale revolution" Americans seem to have a hard time to say “goodbye” to the stereotypes of the past century. Barack Obama declared "comprehensive" energy strategy increasingly takes on the character of selective policy, concentrating not on a wide range of energy, but only on shale gas and oil. America is increasingly dependent on oil and gas consumption. This situation does not seem to cause any rejections. Scientists call this phenomenon a "cognitive dissonance"; which White House initiatives inherently possess. It is the inability to reach a consensus between the populist slogans and theoretical developments, while there is a need for pragmatic economic decision-making. We have to admit that for Obama’s two-parent term, the Democrats couldn’t precisely highlight key points, and build a hierarchy of integrated energy policy. US hegemony is almost not valid in renewable energy. On a number of key areas of alternative energy, China and some EU countries are ahead of the United States and the Americans have to compete to maintain leadership or even to catch up with countries that have been recently perceived as developing

In fact, the clean power plan would cut the pollution at least thirty percent by the end of the next decade (Climate Change/ The White House). By giving the states option to replace dirty coal plants with wind, solar and energy efficiency, it also has the potential to speed the shift to clean power. President Obama’s administration has made real progress in developing a wide range of initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions through clean energy policies (Climate Change/ The White House). Since President Obama took office, the U.S. has increased solar electricity generation by more than ten-fold, and tripled electricity production from wind power. Building on the improvements of the first term, America continue to take new and comprehensive