Where does your state's energy come from?
Critical Analysis
The chart above shows how the United States has made electricity for the past twenty years, represented as the percentage of power generated from each fuel source. To show how their relative usage has shifted, the fuels are stacked each year from top to bottom in order of percentage. According to the visual above what was the leading what percent of electricity was coal generated in 2000?
According to the visual above what was the leading what percent of electricity was coal generated in 2023?
Describe one trend in electrical power sources from the data above?
Of the electrical power generation sources listed above, only coal and natural gas are carbon emitting. Hydro power and nuclear power are non-carbon emitting and made up 27% of all electrical power in 2000 and in 2023. Lately all growth in carbon-free power has come from wind and solar power, which now make up one tenth of U.S. power generation. As the power of solar panels drop what do you think will happen to the percent of solar power generation in the U.S.?
If humans escape climate scientists’ gloomiest projections, if we buy ourselves time to adapt to higher seas and fiercer heat waves, we will likely use more electricity than we do now, and we will make it without emitting greenhouse gases. Some states are leading the way in producting clean electricity. Based on the visual below* what state is making the cleanest power?
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously described states as “laboratories of democracy.” in his opinion in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann he described how "a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." Explain how energy production illustrates the concept of federalism.
Based on the WAPO interactive on energy production in the U.S how does your state do in terms of producing clean energy?
Based on the information in the visuals above and below and your knowledge of American politics, make a claim about whether you believe the U.S. will do better in terms of the carbon intensity of the electricity it produces in the future.
List or describe the types of interest groups or corporations that would have an interest in how energy is produced in the U.S.
Enormous. Gargantuan. Huge. Massive. Vast. These are just some of the adjectives journalists have summoned to describe Willow, the Alaskan oil drilling project the Biden administration approved this month that will produce an estimated 19.2 million barrels of oil per year for the next thirty years. This is not good for the environment. At the same time, The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 signed into law by President Biden made the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history, enabling America to tackle the climate crisis, and securing America’s position as a world leader in domestic clean energy manufacturing, and putting the United States on a pathway to achieving the Biden Administration’s climate goals, including a net-zero economy by 2050. Describe other ways that presidents can influence energy production.
Learning Extension
Check out the WAPO interactive on energy production in the U.S.
Action Extension
Contact President Biden and tell him what you think of his energy policy.
Visual Extension*
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