ABSTRACT
In a presidential address in 1977 Jimmy Carter announced that the energy crisis in the United States constituted the "moral equivalent of war." The United States is an energy-rich nation, and alternative energy technologies are already in place to be utilized if foreign oil supplies are unavailable in the future. Since 1981 the energy policy of the administration of Ronald Reagan has consisted of an increased reliance on the private sector. The problem of equity in the distribution of costs and benefits plagues other actual or potential energy technologies as well. The political and ethical issues generated by the use of coal as a primary energy source surround most other energy technologies as well. Private-sector investment in solar energy systems at both the householder and corporate levels was spurred by the passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978.
