Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2013, 1,060 mayors of US cities that represent over 88 million citizens have
signed the agreement.
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7.7 THE CULMINATION OF INFLUENCES
During George W. Bush's two terms in power, the policy priority was to
expand domestic fossil fuel reserves. Upon leaving oice this torch was
passed on to John McCain, who was nominated as the Republican presi-
dential candidate. Many people who witnessed the Republican National
Convention in 2008 likely still have etched in their minds the spectacle
of grown adults chanting in unison “drill baby drill” in support of the
Republican platform to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
On the other side of the political spectrum, Barack Obama's presidential
campaign in 2007-2008 included numerous references to the importance
of expanding renewable energy capacity. Upon Obama's ascent to the presi-
dency, statements highlighting the importance of addressing climate change
and support for renewable energy have been commonplace in public addresses
given by the president, including in his State of the Union addresses.
Up until recently, these two divergent perspectives on how to improve
energy security played an inluential role in shaping public attitudes and
perceptions regarding energy policy. Generally, Republicans tend to view
the expansion of domestic fossil fuel resources as a top priority, while
Democrats tend to view the development of clean energy technologies to
be of higher imperative. As a sweeping generalization, Republicans that are
concerned about climate change tend to harbor more support for technolo-
gies such as carbon capture and sequestration, while Democrats tend to
oppose technologies that extend the dominance of fossil fuel energy in the
nation's electricity mix.
hese ideological divides tend to become entrenched due to the pervasive
inluence of mass media on public perception. In too many cases the objec-
tive nature of news reporting has been usurped by political bias, with the
public becoming unwitting recipients of a distorted analysis. On the one
hand, television networks such as CBS and newspapers such as the
New York
Times
have been said to possess a liberal bias that favors Democratic posi-
tions.
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On the other hand, a conservative bias has been attributed to tele-
vision stations such as Fox and newspapers such as the
Wall Street Journal
that tends to favor Republican positions.
In 1999, in an attempt to directly inluence public awareness of wind
power, the US Department of Energy launched the Wind Powering America
(WPA) initiative that is a program designed to “educate, engage, and enable
