Energy

Energy policy determines how America powers its economy — from the fossil fuels that still supply the majority of U.S. energy needs, to the fast-growing renewable sector, to the electric grid infrastructure that connects generation to consumers. The U.S. is the world's largest oil and gas producer, a position reached through the shale revolution of the 2010s and sustained through both Democratic and Republican administrations. Yet it is also the world's second-largest renewable energy market, driven by rapidly falling costs for solar and wind power and by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, which invested $369 billion in clean energy — the largest climate and energy investment in U.S. history. Electricity demand is rising sharply, driven by the proliferation of data centers (for AI and cryptocurrency), electric vehicles, and manufacturing reshoring — putting pressure on a grid that in many regions has not seen significant infrastructure investment in decades. Energy prices have significant political consequences: gasoline prices affect consumer sentiment and electoral outcomes; electricity rate increases generate public backlash. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the U.S. to Europe expanded dramatically after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, positioning U.S. gas as a geopolitical tool as well as an economic product. The ongoing tension in energy policy is between speed of transition to clean energy and the costs of transition, including stranded fossil fuel assets, workforce displacement, and reliability risks during the switchover.