An Assessment of the 107th U.S. Congress Energy Policy Debate in the History of Energy Use and Development in the United States

Author(s):  
Royce M. Reinecke

The national energy policy debate in the 107th US Congress may mark a significant milestone in the development of energy use and conversion technologies in the United States. It has been said that the result of this congressional energy policy debate was an expensive statements that, despite proposed tax breaks and subsidies for everything from solar power and hybrid cars to coal and nuclear power, may accomplish little — with not much either on the supply or the demand side that’s going to make any difference to the American public. This paper provides an insider assessment of how the debate developed, what energy policy decisions were or were not made, and what the implications are for the development of energy use and conversion technologies going forward. This debate may represent the final exhaustive struggle of long-held, but misguided, ineffectual and limited-vision policies that date to the 1970s. In combination with the September 11 events, this stalemate may open the door to new, fresh, global perspectives on meeting the energy needs of people throughout the world, including in lesser developed countries such as Afghanistan. Engineers and entrepreneurs are advised to understand the seminal implications of the 107th congressional energy policy debate on future energy use and conversion technologies.

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (04) ◽  
pp. 28-32
Author(s):  
Bridget Mintz Testa

This article discusses the obstacles in producing ultraheavy duty products for nuclear reactors in the United States. There has not been much call for making reactor vessels in the United States for decades. Even in the 1970s, the peak decade for building nuclear power plants in the United States, only around a dozen reactor vessels were installed in the best years. To produce ultraheavy products, entirely new forging facilities would have to be built. As per some estimates, one new ultraheavy forging facility would cost $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion, and it would take five to seven years to build. There is also problem related to profit making. Changing these conditions to favor building domestic ultraheavy forging capability would take a coherent energy policy for the United States regarding nuclear power, making it much more important in the energy capabilities.


Author(s):  
R.G. Nelson, ◽  
C.H. Hellwinckel, ◽  
C.C. Brandt, ◽  
T.O. West, ◽  
D.G. De La Torre Ugarte, ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 2103-2123
Author(s):  
V.L. Gladyshevskii ◽  
E.V. Gorgola ◽  
D.V. Khudyakov

Subject. In the twentieth century, the most developed countries formed a permanent military economy represented by military-industrial complexes, which began to perform almost a system-forming role in national economies, acting as the basis for ensuring national security, and being an independent military and political force. The United States is pursuing a pronounced militaristic policy, has almost begun to unleash a new "cold war" against Russia and to unwind the arms race, on the one hand, trying to exhaust the enemy's economy, on the other hand, to reindustrialize its own economy, relying on the military-industrial complex. Objectives. We examine the evolution, main features and operational distinctions of the military-industrial complex of the United States and that of the Russian Federation, revealing sources of their military-technological and military-economic advancement in comparison with other countries. Methods. The study uses military-economic analysis, scientific and methodological apparatus of modern institutionalism. Results. Regulating the national economy and constant monitoring of budget financing contribute to the rise of military production, especially in the context of austerity and crisis phenomena, which, in particular, justifies the irrelevance of institutionalists' conclusions about increasing transaction costs and intensifying centralization in the industrial production management with respect to to the military-industrial complex. Conclusions. Proving to be much more efficient, the domestic military-industrial complex, without having such access to finance as the U.S. military monopolies, should certainly evolve and progress, strengthening the coordination, manageability, planning, maximum cost reduction, increasing labor productivity, and implementing an internal quality system with the active involvement of the State and its resources.


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