ABSTRACT
The first ten years of the new millennium have witnessed a tremendous shift in how the environment and energy are perceived in the US. In the past decade, much more attention has been paid to climate change than ever before, but there has also been an increased politicisation of the climate change agenda. Although energy received a lot of attention, energy policy, or any concept thereof, according to many, was simply not present (Reardon 2004). Europe, especially, tends to be unsatisfied by the lack of strong political leadership on energy and the environment in the United States. The US has been trying to solve its energy problems ever since the late 1960s and 1970s oil embargoes, which made it necessary for the country to face the fact that it consumes more energy than it is able to produce. Even though the dramatic situation of oil embargoes led to the emergence of various technological innovations as well as the spread of renewable energy, even 40 years later the main problem remains unresolved.
