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Middle East: Economics, Technology,

and Environment

The Energy Crisis:

Crude-Oil Imports

Oil Consumption in the 1970s and Dependence on

Oil Imports

The Energy Crisis:

Gasoline Prices

The Energy Crisis: Crude-

Oil Imports and Gasoline Prices

U.S. Energy Consumption, 1900–2000

Gas Guzzling “Muscle” Cars

No gas

The United States Department of Energy:

October 1977• “The Department of Energy Organization Act brought the federal government's agencies and programs into a single agency. The Department of Energy, activated on October 1, 1977, assumed the responsibilities of the Federal Energy Administration, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Federal Power Commission, and parts and programs of several other agencies.

• The Department provided the framework for a comprehensive and balanced national energy plan by coordinating and administering the energy functions of the federal government. The Department undertook responsibility for long-term, high-risk research and development of energy technology, federal power marketing, energy conservation, the nuclear weapons program, energy regulatory programs, and a central energy data collection and analysis program.”

The National Energy Act of 1978

• Higher tax on inefficient cars (gas-guzzlers)

• New utilities to use other non-petroleum fuel sources

• Deregulate oil prices• Provide tax credits for

homeowners seeking to make their homes more energy efficient

• Funding for alternative fuels research

• Focus on nuclear energy

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Oil Changes a Region

• The discovery of oil in the 1930s brought the region enormous wealth, which was used to pay for hospitals, schools, roads, airports, apartment buildings, modern health care, and desalination plants.

• In 1960, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - OPEC was formed to decide how much oil to produce and at what price to sell it.

• Between 1970 and 1980, high demand for oil caused prices to soar, which had an immense impact on the world economy.

• Because oil wells will one day run dry, the countries of the region are investing large sums of money to develop other industries.

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Oil Changes a Region