Department of Energy (U.S.)

The u.s. department of Energy (DOE) was created in 1977 under the administration of President Jimmy Carter, following the oil crises of the early 1970s, when the OPEC countries suddenly increased the cost of oil and caused economic difficulties around most parts of the world. However, the DOE traces its history back to at least the Manhattan Project. The DOE was designed to bring under one federal agency (the 12th cabinet level department) a variety of agencies and organizations that separately dealt with nonnuclear and nuclear sources of energy and their regulation.

In common with all governmental agencies, the actions of the DOE are subject to criticism from those who believe government should do less to regulate economic and social activities, and those who believe it should do more. Denial of climate change and the role of human actions in promoting it have intensified this criticism.

The DOE also considers very urgently the threat of terrorism and the possibility that energy institutions will be targeted for attack. As a consequence, the DOE's overarching mission is described as “… to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex.”

The DOE has four strategic goals: the Defense Strategic Goal, to protect national security by applying [Page 439]advanced science and nuclear technology to the nation's defense; the Energy Strategic Goal, to protect national and economic security by promoting a diverse supply and delivery of reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy; the Science Strategic Goal, to protect national and economic security by providing world-class scientific research capacity and advancing scientific knowledge; the Environment Strategic Goal, to protect the environment by providing a responsible resolution to the environmental legacy of the Cold War and by providing for the permanent disposal of the Nation's high-level radioactive waste.

Consequently, the DOE is involved in sourcing and supplying energy for the nation, subject to the interests of individual states and their rights; dealing with environmental issues arising from the uses of energy; and the provision of and support for science and research and development activities aimed at such subjects as energy conservation, new forms of energy generation, and the recycling of obsolete materials and equipment.

Its success in managing these diverse goals may be seen in that its research and development has won more than any private sector organization and more than twice as many as the total of all other federal agencies. Nevertheless, since elected officials motivate many of its decisions, some of the DOE's policies are subject to criticism on ideological grounds. On February 1st, 2005, Samuel Wright Bodman was sworn in as the 11th secretary of the DOE; his responsibilities include managing a budget in excess of $23 billion and with more than 100,000 employees and contractors. The DOE's activities are likely to become increasingly complex as more data become available on the impact of energy use and, consequently, how it should be regulated, as well as the fraught intersection between international politics and the securing of stable energy sources globally.

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