PSC2224: DOMESTIC ENERGY POLICY
Political Science Department
George Washington University
Fall Semester 2013
Tuesday and Thursday, 11:10 a.m.– 12:25 p.m.
Government 101
Prof. Dennis W. Johnson
dwjgspm@gwu.edu
Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday
afternoons, 2:30-4:00 p.m., or by appointment
462 Media and Public Affairs Building
This is an upper level undergraduate political science course in U.S. federal energy policy.
We will focus on several key topics: (a) an overview of energy resources worldwide and in
the United States; (b) the use of fossil fuels—oil and gasoline, coal, and natural gas; (c) the
non-fossil sources of energy—nuclear power, hydropower; (c) renewable energy sources—
solar, wind, biomass, and others; (d) energy, the environment, and climate change; (e)
reducing the demand for energy through conservation and efficiencies; (f) the major federal
institutions that make U.S. energy policy; (g) analysis of recent energy legislation; and
finally (h) looking to the future of energy needs and U.S. policymaking.
The Goals for this Course
(a) Understand the interplay between science, technology, politics and public policy.
Through a variety of our readings, we will learn how science and technology
create both opportunities and challenges in the field of energy policy.
(b) Understand the potential and actual impact of U.S. energy production, usage, and
policy options dealing with oil and other forms of fossil fuel.
(c) Comprehend how energy needs are met in critical areas of U.S. life, from
transportation through transmission of electricity.
(d) Understand the major federal legislation and policy initiatives in the area of
energy.
(e) Understand the political strengths and weaknesses of various elements of the
energy industry, from oil, natural gas, coal, to renewables.
(f) Develop the ability to navigate through energy technical studies and data bases.
(g) Sharpen your research and writing skills. You will conduct serious advanced
upper-level public policy research and writing. I will demand the highest level
of research and analysis, and you, in turn, will be proud of the final product you
turn in.
How Your Grade Will be Determined
There will be three ways that you will be tested: (1) a group research paper, counting 30
percent of the final grade; (2) a mid-term examination, counting as 35 percent of the final
grade; and (3) a final examination, counting as 35 percent of the final grade.
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Group Research Paper: You and two of your classmates will collaborate to write a fifteenpage (double-spaced) policy memorandum, which will be addressed to President Obama,
urging that one element of energy be given favorable treatment. The president is creating a
National Energy Policy, and your contribution will be vital to his thinking. In the class, there
will be ten energy policy teams, each pitching a particular form of fossil or non-fossil fuel, or
encouraging energy conservation. In this policy memorandum, you will (a) summarize in 5
pages (or so) the current state of the energy policy in this field; (b) advocate in 8 pages (or
so) for federal policy changes that you think are desired in this field; and (c) describe in 2
pages (or so) relevant policy actors and institutions in the federal executive and legislative
branches who would be most responsible for making such changes, and list and briefly
describe the interest groups that would be most likely to join you in this reform.
Here is what you will be advocating; your team and the others will draw lots and be
assigned one of these advocacy topics:
The best thing the U.S. can do is develop clean coal technology.
The U.S. needs to put in massive funds for a breakthrough in automobile
batteries for electric cars.
The future solution is obvious: encourage as much hydraulic fracturing as
possible.
The best thing the U.S. can do is restart our nuclear energy program.
We need a broad based car tax, with the revenue going to encouraging shifts
to non-fossil fuels.
Forgive us, Mr. President, but the best thing you can do is let the market
place handle our energy needs; we don’t need an overarching energy
policy.
The best thing we can do is reduce demand for energy, but creating a bold
new program for energy conservation.
If we don’t radically and totally move away from dependence on fossil fuels,
of all forms, we’re screwed. Be imaginative, Mr. President, and be bold.
Mr. President, we need to do everything possible to encourage oil drilling in
the U.S. and off our shorelines: “Drill, Baby, Drill!”
Mr. President, a lot of families and industries are going to be hurt if we
radically move away from fossil fuels. What we need is an economic
relief plan for those individuals, those cities and states affected, and
those industries.
Sir, we could solve all of our energy problems by giving massive assistance
to wind power and solar power. In the short run, it will be expensive,
but in the long run, the best thing for us. “Renewables, Baby!”
This assignment will be due one week before the Thanksgiving break and will constitute 30
percent of your course grade. All three students will receive the same grade; but each of
you will also submit a grade to me on how well your classmates have performed. If for
some reason, one of you has dropped the ball, and your classmates had to take up your
responsibilities, then you will be given a lower grade than your teammates.
Mid Semester Examination. The examination will be held on October 10, and will cover
all material assigned thus far in the course. It will cover texts, supplementary readings, and
lecture material. This will count as 35 percent of your course grade.
Final Examination: This examination will cover the texts, supplementary readings, and
lecture material for the second half of the course, and will be held during exam time in
3
December. This will count as 35 percent of your course grade.
Class attendance, class participation and quizzes. There is no grade for class attendance
or class participation. Everyone is supposed to attend every class, be prepared by having
read the assignments before class, and ready to contribute to class discussion. The only
grade will be a negative one: if you chronically miss classes or are not prepared, then I’ll
factor this into your final course grade. If, for example, you are teetering between a B+ and
an A- (from your group paper and two examinations), then a spotty attendance record will
drag you down to a B+. You are not rewarded for attending classes and participating fully—
that is the minimum expected of you. If, however, if it appears that very few students have
read the required material, I may be compelled to give a quiz or two. The results from those
quizzes will also have a negative impact on your grade.
Readings:
Daniel Botkin, Powering the Future (FT Press, 2010)
Richard Lester and David Hart, Unlocking Energy Innovation (MIT Press, 2011)
Daniel Yergin, The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World
(Penguin, 2011)
Online readings:
§Jeffery Logan and Stan Mark Kaplan, Wind Power in the United States: Technology,
Economic, and Policy Issues (CRS, 2008),
§Maura Allaire and Stephen P. A. Brown, U.S. Energy Subsidies: Effects on Energy
Markets and Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Resources for the Future/Pew Charitable
Trust, 2012), pp. 1-22.
http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Fiscal_and_Bud
get_Policy/EnergySubsidiesFINAL.pdf
§Steve Coll, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power (2011), several chapters
§Mark Holt, Nuclear Energy Policy (Congressional Research Service, 2012),
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33558.pdf
§ Robert B. Jackson et al., “Research and Policy Recommendations for Hydraulic
Fracturing and Shale Gas Extraction,” 2009.
§ Robert Meltz, Climate Change and Existing Law, CRS, 2012.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42613.pdf
§Stan Kaplan, “Electricity Power Transmission”
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/122949.pdf
§James McCarthy, Claudia Copeland, “EPA’s Regulation of Coal-Fired Power: Is a
‘Train Wreck’ Coming?” (Congressional Research Service, 2011),
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41914.pdf.
§ Nicolas Loris, “Natural Gas Policy,” Heritage Foundation,
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/09/natural-gas-policyaccess-not-over-regulation-and-subsidies (2011)
§World Energy Outlook Factsheet (2012),
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weowebsite/2012/factsheets.pdf
§Robert Bamberger. Energy Policy: Historical Overview (CRS: 2003),
http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL31720.pdf
§White House, Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/blueprint_secure_energy_future.pdf
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Academic Integrity:
All members of the university community are expected to exhibit honesty and
competence in their academic work. Students have a special responsibility to
acquaint themselves with, and make use of, all proper procedures for doing
research, writing papers, and taking exams. Members of the community will be
presumed to be familiar with the proper academic procedures and will be held
responsible for applying them. Deliberate failure to act in accordance with such
procedures will be considered academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is
defined as “cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting one’s own work, taking
credit for the work of others without crediting them and without appropriate
authorization, and the fabrication of information.” Acts of academic dishonesty are
a legal, moral, and intellectual offense against the community and will be prosecuted
through the proper university channels. The University Code of Academic Integrity
can be found at http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html.
Don’t even think about copying material or using someone else’s work as your own.
If there is evidence that you plagiarized your research assignment, you will be given
an “F” for the assignment and an “F” for the course.
Support for Students with Disabilities:
GW’s Disability Support Services (DSS) provides and coordinates accommodations
and other services for students with a wide variety of disabilities, as well as those
temporarily disabled by injury or illness. Accommodations are available through
DSS to facilitate academic access for students with disabilities. Additional
information is available at www.gwu.edu/~dss.
SYLLABUS
Week One: August 27 and 29
An Overview of Energy Resources Worldwide and in the United States
An Overview of Public Policy Theory
--Centrality of energy resources in modern life.
--World and U.S. energy mix
--Overview of U.S. energy policy
--Theories and concepts of public policy
Readings:
§World Energy Outlook Factsheet (2012),
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weowebsite/2012/factsheets.pdf
§Robert Bamberger. Energy Policy: Historical Overview (2003),
http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL31720.pdf
FOSSIL FUELS
Week Two: September 3 and 5
Oil and Gasoline
--Use of oil—gasoline for cars, other uses
--The oil industry and its Washington muscle
--Federal treatment of oil industry
--OPEC and oil crisis
--Are we running out of oil?
5
--Oil independence?
--The search for what’s left
--Legislation affecting oil industry
Readings:
Botkin, Powering the Future, ch. 1
Yergin, The Quest, chs. 1-8 “The New World of Oil”
Research teams formed, and advocacy assignments given out.
Week Three: September 10 and 12
King Coal
--Coal in America
--Coal in Twenty-first Century
--Mining, safety, environmental concerns
--Federal regulation of coal mining
--Clean coal technologies
Readings:
Botkin, Powering the Future, ch. 3
Goodell, “After a Strong Counterattack, Big Coal Makes a Comeback,”
http://e360.yale.edu/content/print.msp?id=2337
McCarthy and Copeland, “EPA’s Regulation of Coal-Fired Power: Is a ‘Train Wreck’
Coming?” (Congressional Research Service, 2011),
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41914.pdf.
Weeks Four, Five: September 17, 19, 24
September 17: This class will be devoted to conducting research on energy policy.
Dr. David Ettinger, Gelman Library specialist in public policy and political science,
will conduct the class session.
Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
--The shale oil revolution and fracking
--Economics of natural gas
--Federal legislation
Readings:
Botkin, Powering the Future, ch. 2.
Yergin, The Quest, ch. 16
Loris, “Natural Gas Policy.”
Jackson et al., “Research and Policy Recommendations for Hydraulic Fracturing and
Shale Gas Extraction,”
NON-FOSSIL FUEL SOURCES OF ENERGY
Weeks Five and Six: September 26 and October 1
Nuclear Power
--Nuclear power generation in United States
--Will we build more generators
--Environmental implications of nuclear power
--Learning from Fukushima
--Nuclear licensing, risk insurance, and other government actions
6
--Federal legislation affecting nuclear power generation
Readings:
Botkin, Powering the Future, ch. 5
Yergin, The Quest, ch. 18
Mark Holt, Nuclear Energy Policy (2012),
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33558.pdf
The Future of Nuclear Power (MIT, 2003),
http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower/pdf/nuclearpower-full.pdf
Update of the MIT Future of Nuclear Power Study (MIT, 2009)
http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower/pdf/nuclearpower-update2009.pdf
Weeks Six and Seven: October 3 and 8
Hydroelectric, Solar, Wind, and other renewables
--The market for renewables
--Economics of renewables
--Can renewables replace coal?
--Federal and state incentives
Readings:
Botkin, Powering the Future, chs. 6, 7, 8, 9
Yergin, The Quest, chs. 27-30
Week Seven: October 10
October 10: Mid-Semester Examination, covering all material from Week 1
through Week 7.
Week Eight: October 15 and 17
Electricity Reliability and Transmission
--Importance of electricity in modern life
--Reliability of electricity and transmission lines
Readings:
Yergin, The Quest, chs. 17-20 “The Electric Age”
Botkin, Powering the Future, ch. 10.
§Stan Kaplan, “Electricity Power Transmission”
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/122949.pdf
CLIMATE CHANGE, CONSERVATION AND FUTURE ENERGY CHALLENGES
Week Nine: October 22 and 24
Eight: Energy and Climate Change
--Why is it so difficult to enact legislation?
--Why isn’t the U.S. a leader in this field?
--What can be done?
Readings:
Yergin, The Quest, chs. 21-26
Meltz, Climate Change and Existing Law.
Week Ten: October 29 and 31
Reducing Demand and Promoting Efficiency
Readings:
7
Botkin, Powering the Future, ch. 12.
Yergin, The Quest, chs. 31-32.
Week Eleven: November 5 and 7
Federal Institutions and Policymaking
--Key cabinet agencies and independent regulatory agencies
--Committees in Congress; key members of Congress
--White House staff
--Obama energy policy
Week Twelve: November 12 and 14
Recent Federal legislation
--Energy Policy Act of 2005
--Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
--American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Readings:
Allaire and Brown, U.S. Energy Subsidies, pp. 1-22
http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/
Fiscal_and_Budget_Policy/EnergySubsidiesFINAL.pdf
White House, Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future
Week Thirteen: November 19 and 21
The Future of Energy Policy
Readings:
Botkin, Powering the Future, ch. 13.
Yergin, The Quest, chs. 33-35, Conclusion
Research Papers are due, November 21
Week Fourteen: November 26
The Future of Energy Policy (continued)
Readings:
Lester and Hart, Unlocking Energy Innovation, chs. 1-4
Thanksgiving Break
Week Fifteen: December 3 and 5
The Future of Energy Policy (conclusion)
Readings:
Lester and Hart, Unlocking Energy Innovation, chs. 5-8
Final Examination (Examination Week—to be determined)
The examination covers all reading and lecture material from Weeks 8 through
Week 14.