ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the issues that are shaping the energy policy agenda, and briefly introduced some agenda issues for the major sources of energy. The energy industry is facing one of the most trying periods of its more than a century of existence. Nuclear power received a boost in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which included a combination of regulatory initiatives to shorten the licensing process, a process for creating standardized designs, and financial incentives in the form of tax credits for additional capacity and federal loan guarantees for project costs. The process of crafting a global climate change agreement is on the US energy agenda since it is intimately tied to whether the United States passes comprehensive climate change legislation, and the terms of that legislation. A number of important topics in the long run are receiving attention but are not as central to the immediate agenda.
