Energy and Empire: The Politics of Nuclear and Solar Power in the United StatesWhat set the United States on the path to developing commercial nuclear energy in the 1950s, and what led to the seeming demise of that industry in the late 1970s? Why, in spite of the depletion of fossil fuels and the obvious dangers of global warming, has the United States moved so slowly toward adopting alternatives? In Energy and Empire, George A. Gonzalez presents a clear and concise argument demonstrating that economic elites tied their advocacy of the nuclear energy option to post-1945 American foreign policy goals. At the same time, these elites opposed government support for other forms of energy, such as solar, that cannot be dominated by one nation. While researchers have blamed safety concerns and other factors as helping to arrest the expansion of domestic nuclear power plant construction, Gonzalez points to an entirely different set of motivations stemming from the loss of America's domination/control of the enrichment of nuclear fuel. Once foreign countries could enrich their own fuel, civilian nuclear power ceased to be a lever the United States could use to economically/politically dominate other nations. Instead, it became a major concern relating to nuclear weapons proliferation. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The Political Economy of US Energy Policy
| 13 |
US Economic Elites Nuclear Powerand Solar Energy
| 29 |
Urban Sprawl as Economic Stimulus
| 41 |
Global Oil Politics | 53 |
Global Energy Politics and Urban Sprawl
| 65 |
Other editions - View all
Energy and Empire: The Politics of Nuclear and Solar Power in the United States George A. Gonzalez No preview available - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
American Atomic Energy automobile autonomy theory benefits Cambridge University Press Century Fund Task chap Chapter China civilian nuclear power Clean Energy Clifford Krauss Climate Change Committee Conference on Unemployment consumption corporate countries David Domhoff Ecological Modernization economic elite electricity emissions Energy Commission Energy Policy Development Environmental European federal field financial firms first foreign policy fossil fuels Fund Task Force Global Warming Industry influence International Energy Agency Iraq John Keith Bradsher Kryza Matthew Matthew L National Energy Policy neoconservative Non—Proliferation nuclear energy Nuclear Plant nuclear power plants Nuclear Waste officials oil shocks Oxford University Press Panel Peak Peak Oil percent Peter petroleum Policy Development Group policy—planning network Politics President’s Conference production reactors Robert Rockefeller Foundation significant Solar Energy solar power specific Strum supply Technology Theda Skocpol Twentieth Century Fund U.S. government U.S. oil United urban sprawl Wald Washington WBCSD William Domhoff York