B) Shum, Robert Y. "Where Constructivism Meets Resource Constraints: The Politics Of Oil, Renewables, And A US Energy Transition." Environmental Politics 24.3 (2015): 382-400. Environment Complete. Web. 2 Oct. 2015.
Summarize:
The article I chose to write about for my first journal is “Environmental Politics” by Robert Y. Shum. In this article Shum goes into detail of how the United States has put off renewable energy since the late seventies. He discusses how foreign politics and funding of unconventional fossil-fuel technology interfere with renewable energy advancements. There are also different ways that the choice of renewable energy can be framed. Either as an effort to reduce emissions, or to become less dependent on foreign energy sources as Shum states. Furthermore, the article contains a case study of U.S. policy shifts regarding energy since the 1970’s. The 1973 oil crisis was a major impact on the U.S. economy thus starting a boom in domestic oil production to increase the country's independency. By 1977 and the availability of oil began to disappear leading President Carter to push policies towards solar power as a renewable energy however the return of low oil prices once again pushed renewable energies out. Shum goes on to conclude that policy objectives have changed over time. These policies will generally have the goal of either “maintaining business-as-usual economic growth, or incorporating longer term sustainability considerations.”(Shum 16).
Think:
This article has definitely made me think about renewable energies in a new way. Before this article I had not really thought about how much of energy funding goes toward creating innovative fossil-fuel production as compared to sources such as solar, wind, or hydro power which are all, in the long run, lower-cost and a more reliable long-term energy source for the United States. Another concept I took away from this article is how these policies are worded can completely change intentions in order to appease the majority in different situations. This article has definitely answered questions I had before reading such as how foreign politics have affected the advancement of renewable energy technologies. While I don’t question the validity of the article I do believe it was written with a bias towards renewable energy which is something I agree with. The growth of renewable energy technology is needed long before we come close to running out of fossil fuels as the world is still a long ways out from becoming independent of fossil fuels.
Question and Plan:
This article makes me wonder if the policies for renewable energies weren’t so heavily avoided by the U.S. government how the general population see renewable energy sources in the present day? Furthermore, would this also have resulted in an increase in the funding for research and development of new energy sources rather than fossil-fuel? The next thing I think I need to research is how has renewable energy technology advanced since the 1970’s and compare it to what policies were like at the time. By doing this I can get a better understanding of if it is feasible for the U.S.to cut back funding on fossil fuels and start putting that money towards renewable sources.
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