Jeremy Carl - Conversations about Energy. How the Experts See America's Energy Choices [2010][A]

Book Description
Publication Date: November 1, 2010
Over the past forty years, our energy policies have left us in a place that is dangerous to our economy, our national security, and our climate. But we still have a chance to get it right. In Conversations About Energy, members of the Hoover Energy Task Force offer ideas and recommendations that might improve the performance of the United States in responding to the energy challenge. Their recommendations cover a number of key policy areas, including: distributed energy, energy efficiency, internationalizing the nuclear fuel cycle, synthetic biology issues and prospects, putting a price on carbon, sustained support for research and development, and emerging international energy relationships.

In addition to members of the Hoover Energy Task Force, other energy experts, entrepreneurs, scientists, and economists offer their input, all sharing the conviction that formulating good energy policy is one of the nation's most important challenges. If we can learn from the mistakes of the past that we have made in these and other policy areas, we can build a bridge to a cleaner and more secure energy future.

From the Inside Flap
Energy is a large and critical component of the economy. Getting energy policy wrong and adopting unnecessarily costly, economically inefficient policies will have a significant negative impact on our standard of living. This book, drawn from the January 2010 conference, of the Hoover Institution’s Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy, discusses energy issues critical to our economy, our national security, and our climate— including energy efficiency, synthetic biology, emerging international energy relationships, and other key topics.

A number of policy recommendations emerged from the discussions at the conference, two of which were particularly critical points of emphasis: (1) The need to support basic research on energy generously on a sustained basis; and (2) The need to establish a price for carbon dioxide emissions. In addition to these points, several other notable themes also surfaced.

First, a successful U.S. energy policy will be based on the willingness to try innovative policy approaches, with the understanding that only a few will ultimately prove successful. Second, a successful energy policy will be one that is flexible and reactive in the face of uncertainty and constantly changing circumstances. Third, a successful global energy system is likely to rely on many local and regional bottom-up solutions rather than top down dictates from a single international authority. And fourth, federal funding can close the gap between the research and development stage (pure science) and full-blown commercial operations that can obtain private capital.

Beyond these themes, the conference yielded specific recommendations in several policy areas. For instance, efforts should be made to increase the use of information technology to support efficient use of energy. A mix of proprietary rights and free, open access to information in the synthetic biology field would be the best way to encourage research while creating incentives for entrepreneurs and investors. And climate negotiations with other countries are most likely to be successful in the context of broader energy and trade negotiations

If we can learn from the mistakes of the past that we have made in these and other policy areas, we can build a bridge to a cleaner and more secure energy future.

About the Author
Jeremy Carl is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a member of the Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy, whose work focuses on energy and environmental policy, with an emphasis on energy security, climate policy, and global fossil fuel markets. In addition, he writes extensively on US-India relations and Indian politics. James E. Goodby is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a senior fellow with the Center for Northeast Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. George P. Shultz is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and has had a distinguished career in government, in academia, and in business.