From Nixon to Trump Energy Policy in the Global Era
Date
2019-09-19
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Abstract
From 1970 to 2011 the United States underwent a 20% increase in trade as a percentage of GDP. International trade growth has complicated the accurate estimation of cumulative environmental effects while necessitating increased political entanglement. The current US-China trade war illustrates this complexity. Current trade talks include, but are not limited to ‘decoupling’ the two nations and the ‘reshoring’ of US manufacturing. If decoupling were to occur the United States would also be reshoring the energy demands and the ecological impacts of greater goods production. This paper evaluates this possible shift in terms of its impact on environmental and energy policy. It considers the causes for economic and political entanglement during this period, and the need for policy adjustments. To this end, this paper ultimately argues that the United States government ought to fund global multi-regional input-output (MRIO) studies in order to better inform environmental and energy policy.