U.S. Energy Policy and the Pursuit of Failure

摘要

Most of this book is a blow-by-blow and quotation-by-quotation account of the efforts in consecutive sessions of the U.S. Congress and congressmen and by successive presidents to deal with the public perception of continuing U.S. energy crises after 1973. Of course, there never were energy crises, apart from occasional and temporary oil price spikes and brief gasoline shortages. In particular, the embargo on oil exports to the United States by Arab OPEC members in 1973 had no effect in either 1973 or early 1974, when the embargo was lifted. According to the statistics of the Energy Information Agency, oil imports rose mono-tonically until 1978. Why then were there long lines at the gas stations? Simply because, wanting to keep their gas tanks close to full, drivers stayed in line in order to fill their tanks much more often than previously. This was no secret in 1973, though not generally recognized, even within the U.S. government.