Renewable Energy Policy Analysis

This assignment examines the historical evolution of renewable energy policies in the United States, focusing particularly on the contrasting approaches taken by the Obama and Trump administrations. It delves into the environmental, economic, and social implications of these policies, analyzing their effectiveness in promoting clean energy adoption and mitigating climate change. The analysis considers various renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and biofuels, exploring their role in achieving national energy goals. Students are required to research and critically evaluate policy documents, academic literature, and news articles to develop a comprehensive understanding of the complex landscape surrounding renewable energy policy.

Running head: GLOBAL ENERGY OUTLOOK
Global Energy Outlook
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1GLOBAL ENERGY OUTLOOK
This essay introduces the discussion and evaluation of the renewable energy and climate
change policies in the US under the administration of President Trump along with comparing the
differences from the policies promoted during Obama’s administration
The use of renewable energy sources has become inevitable in order to combat the
increasing scarcity of fossil fuels as well as implementing a sustainable approach for living on
Earth. Considering the adverse environmental impact, the countries have started developing
renewable energy policies individually and as a part of global organizational networks such as
OECD, IEA, and EPA (Kheshgi, de Coninck and Kessels 2012). The use of fossil fuels has
adversely affected the environment due to the emission of increased greenhouse gases. As
commented by Twidell and Weir (2015), renewable energy is defined as the source of energy
that can be rapidly replaced by natural resources such as sun or wind. The naturally occurring
energy resources can help in refilling the energy consumption globally. Due to increased
urbanization and modernization, the use of fossil fuels has increased drastically in the developed
countries. This has led to increased environmental pollution along with giving rise to increased
fossil fuel scarcity. In 2012, the world used around 13.2% of the renewable energy that has
increased to 22% in 2013. Reports suggest that in 2016, renewable energy sources accounted for
about 10% of total US energy consumption and 15% of electricity generation (Aslani and Wong
2014). As commented by Aghaei and Alizadeh (2013), renewable sources of energy are safe,
abundant, cleaner than fossil fuel, stable and generate no environmental pollution. However, as
argued by Lu et al. (2015), generation of renewable energy is largely dependent on weather
thereby, questioning its generation.
The government of the countries emphasizes on protecting the environment by restricting
the use of fossil fuels. The climate policies of various countries provide guideline and framework

2GLOBAL ENERGY OUTLOOK
for restricting the use of fossil fuels and promote the use of renewable energy resources. The
global organizational networks such as Organization for Economic Co-Operation and
Development (OECD), International Energy Agency (IEA) and the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) influences the climate change policies for the betterment of the environment and
save the non-renewable sources of energy for future (Sil, Kumar and Kumar 2014).
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is a group of 34 countries that
aims towards discussing the development of the social and economic policy of the countries. The
OCED countries are democratic countries that support free market economies. OECD aim
towards achieving sustainable economic growth and employment along with enhancing the
living standard of the countries. The organization also aims towards sound economic expansion
along with the successful expansion of the world trade (Saboori, Sapri and bin Baba 2014).
International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous intergovernmental organization in Paris
that follows the OCED framework. The organization was initially established with the aim of
supplying oil without any disruption and serving as an energy resource regarding the
international oil market. The organization acts as a policy advisor and works with countries that
are not members of the OCED. IEA emphasizes in promoting alternative energy sources such as
renewable energy. The members of the IEA countries need to maintain a standard level of oil
stocks for 90 days of the previous year's net import (Malone et al. 2012). The United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a federal government agency of the US that was
formed with the aim of protecting the environment and the human health by strict enforcement of
the laws. EPA has environmental protection measures for air, water, land, endangered species,
and hazardous waste (Cai, Stevens and Syage 2012).

3GLOBAL ENERGY OUTLOOK
Therefore, OCED, IEA, and EPA aim towards implementing a sustainable approach to
the environment by reducing adverse environmental impact.
From 2002-2008, the federal government paid a large amount of subsidy for fossil fuels
to renewable energy in six years. Former President Barack Obama initiated the Clean Power Plan
that set attainable standards for decreasing the emission rate of greenhouse gases. According to
the Clean Action Plan initiated by Obama, in 25 years from 2005-2030, the emission of carbon
dioxide should be reduced by 32%. Obama developed the action plan with criteria that aimed
towards protecting the health of the American family. The Obama administration also aimed
towards saving the life of the American population thereby, proposing to enhance the economy
of the country (Smith et al. 2013). Within a gap of 132 years, the world temperature has risen by
1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (Brown 2012). Therefore, the scientists have recommended that
controlling the rise of world temperature will help in preventing the most adverse environmental
impact. Stronger fuel economy was established under Obama administration that helped in
increasing the efficiency value by 2025. The production of solar energy was increased 20 times
due to the increase in the clean energy initiative by Obama administration. Due to the initiative,
the generation of renewable energy also increased by three times. Under the Clean Power Plan
initiative by the Obama administration, 12% reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases was
noticed in 20 years. By 2030, 30% more production of renewable energy is suggested under the
Clean Power Plan (Wustenhagen and Menichetti 2012). Additionally, the Obama administration
also launched Solar Ready Veta program that aimed towards training to the veterans for making
a successful entry into the solar workforce. This resulted in successful employment to more than
75,000 people thereby, supporting healthy lifestyle and job for the American citizens. Under the
Obama administration, around 50 clean utility-scale projects were established in the tribal and

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public lands thereby, providing 20000 jobs in order to produce sufficient electricity for
approximately 4.8 million homes (Rubin, 2017).
After Obama’s administration, Donald Trump along with the support of the company
executives and miners signed a long-promised executive order that nullifies former President
Barack Obama’s effort in climate change thereby, reviving the local coal industry. Donald
Trump made clear that the United States does not intend to meet the commitments that have been
made by Obama to curb global warming and restricting carbon dioxide pollution thereby, turning
denials of climate change into national policy. Donald Trump also ordered the Environmental
Protection Agency to re-write the lengthy and complex legal process of Clean Power Plan
initiated by Obama (Pengelly, 2017). In order to protect the environment, the Obama
administration placed a moratorium on coal leasing on the federal land in 2016. This is because
the coal companies paid extremely low leases that the US government and the taxpayers were
subsidizing coal production that adversely affected the health and the environment. However,
Trump ordered to lift the moratorium on the coal leasing thereby, putting an end to the initiative.
Donald Trump also assured that the miner would very soon resume their mining work (The Hill,
2017). Additionally, the Trump administration ensured of renewing the coal industry abiding by
the clean coal technology in order to ensure a sustainable environment. The Trump
administration has ordered to balance the number of precautions initiated by the Obama
administration to tackle climate change. He issued orders to handle the gap between the defense
and change of climate (Company, 2017). The review was provoked in order to withdraw the
policies and regulations of the previous government for the coal industry (The Hill, 2017).
Under Obama’s administration, the government aimed towards reducing the emission of
greenhouse gases, increase the use of renewable energy resources and change the infrastructure

5GLOBAL ENERGY OUTLOOK
of the American population for combating with the adverse environmental impact. However, on
the contrary, the Trump administration ordered that the US should leave the Paris Climate
Agreement as well as a commit for removing the Climate Action Plan and the waters of the
United States rule. Considering the order, the Trump administration ordered to construct Dakota
Access pipelines and Keystone XL. The construction of the pipes will help the US to export the
crude- oil from Canada to the Gulf countries (Pengelly, 2017).
The Obama administration ensured that the initiatives undertaken by the government to
protect the environment are followed by the entire US by enforcing laws. The Obama
administration imposed severe penalties if the laws for protecting the environment encountered
any non-compliance. Under the Obama administration, the EPA was ordered to regulate the
emission of greenhouse gases from the existing power plants. However, under the Trump
administration, the budget proposal for the fiscal year 2018 suggests that majority of the
initiatives undertaken by the Obama administration will be stopped (Whitehouse.gov, 2017).
Donald Trump clearly stated that the US government needs to pull back any effort to help fight
global warming along with adapting its impact. Under the proposal, the variety of the climate
programs of the Obama administration will be completely slashed. According to the order of
Donald Trump and the newly developed budget, the US has to withdraw their support towards
Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy's efforts to restrict the carbon emission
along with NASA's Earth-monitoring programs and Sea Grant Program (The Hill, 2017).
The Trump administration has ordered to cut EPA’s budget by 31%, that is, from $8.2
million to $5.7 million. This will be the highest cutdown in the EPA’s budget in the past 40
years. EPA is the main authority in the US that monitors the reduction of the emission of
greenhouse gases. Therefore, the huge budget cut down suggests lack of money of the Clean

6GLOBAL ENERGY OUTLOOK
Power Plan, an Obama initiative for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. Additionally,
EPA’s budget cut down also suggests a prohibition of Obama-era initiatives such as International
Climate Change Programs, Climate Resilience Evaluation Awareness Tool, and Energy Star.
However, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will likely survive after the EPA budget cut
down under Trump administration (Tabuchi, 2017). The Trump administration plans for
withdrawing the initiative towards the landmark power plant that was initiated under the Obama
administration with the aim of maintaining the use of fossil fuels for ensuring a sustainable
planet. The Trump administration is withdrawing its support from the climate policy initiatives
from the Obama-era along with imposing penalties on the wind and solar energy producers
(Tabuchi, 2017).
Under the George W. Bush administration, the climate policy aimed towards 18%
reduction of greenhouse gases by tax credits along with discovering and adopting energy-saving
technologies and promoting the expansion of carbon dioxide absorption by increased agriculture
and forestry. However, the climate policy under Bush administration has faced criticism for
being too modest (Siepr.stanford.edu, 2017). The Clinton administration formed various
innovative programs for reducing the emission of the greenhouse gases with the Climate Change
Technology Initiative (CCTI), a $6.3 billion program for five years that emphasized on tax
incentives developed for stimulating the use of energy-efficient technologies in power
generation, transport and industrial processes (Goldenberg, 2017). President Ronald Reagan has
played a major role in negotiating the Montreal Protocol followed by President George H. W.
Bush who remarked that there is the reflective effect on the world's environmental and economic
policy (Goldenberg, 2017).

7GLOBAL ENERGY OUTLOOK
In this essay, it can be concluded that the US climate policy is undergoing changes as
Donald Trump has ordered the ministers to withdraw their support from the initiative from the
policies of the Obama-era that was created with the aim of preventing global warming. However,
the order released by Trump administration does not restrict EPA to control the emission of
greenhouse gases.

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