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Title: Squeaking by: U. S. energy policy since the embargo

Book ·
OSTI ID:7339792

The prognostications of petroleum pessimists came true in late 1973. Triggered by the resumption of full-scale armed warfare between Arab and Jew, members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) agreed to reduce sharply or, in the case of both the United States and the Netherlands, totally eliminate oil exports to all countries failing to adopt a pro-Arab foreign policy. The OAPEC embargo was effectively over by mid-March 1974, with petroleum supplies restored to adequate levels by mid-April; a plethora of difficult problems remained, however. Squeaking By discusses these problems and analyzes the policies being advocated by the governmental bodies assigned the task of solving them. After describing the U.S.'s major energy policy initiatives prior to the OAPEC embargo, Part One assesses the price controls and emergency petroleum allocation measures aimed at alleviating the ill effects due to embargo-caused oil shortages. This analysis concludes that these emergency measures actually exacerbated the U.S.'s oil supply problems. Part Two describes and evaluates several important future U.S. energy policy issues including: U.S. international energy policies and the future of OPEC; the desirability and feasibility of Project Independence; energy vs. environmental priorities; oil industry monopoly problems; and special problems of electric utilities. The final chapter assesses U.S. energy policymaking in the late 1970s, with an eye toward achieving four important energy-related goals: guaranteeing access to secure energy supplies; reducing energy's high resource costs; limiting environmental degradation; and limiting undesirable changes in the distribution of income.

OSTI ID:
7339792
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English