From the publisher's announcement:
Written by an internationally renowned team of economists and policy analysts at Resources for the Future, a Washington D.C. think-tank with a tradition for independent, objective research, this collection of twenty-five "memos to the President" offers constructive policy options for the elected administration on critical challenges related to energy, the environment, and natural resources.
Each contributor to New Approaches on Energy and the Environment was asked to address the question: "Based on your own research and knowledge, what policy recommendation would you like to make to the next U.S. president?" Writing in advance of the 2004 election so as to keep their essays free of partisan interpretations, the authors were asked not to confine their suggestions to what the prevailing wisdom says is politically possible. They also took pains to make their ideas accessible to a busy president as well as a wide range of readers interested in a concise and authoritative overview of the nation's energy and environmental policy choices. The results are provocative, sometimes controversial, but highly readable essays on topics including climate change, oil dependency, electricity regulation, brownfields revitalization, forest service administration, air and water quality, and environmental health issues such as food safety and the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. The president confronts competing perspectives about the priorities and approaches that should apply to energy and the environmental policy: Americans want cleaner air and water and healthy and attractive surroundings, but they also want inexpensive fuel, comfortable cars and houses, and continued economic growth. New Approaches on Energy and the Environment provides thought-provoking, common-sense contributions to debates about important energy and environmental issues confronting the U.S. today.
Reviews
"At a time when America desperately needs to overcome its addiction to oil, Resources for the Future has prepared a valuable compendium of policy alternatives. New Approaches on Energy and the Environment presents an exciting array of options in the clear, concise manner White House decisionmakers need to make choices that will move the United States towards an energy-secure future."--John D. Podesta, president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress, and former chief of staff to President William J. Clinton
"A healthy democracy depends on periodic infusions of fresh, innovative proposals into the marketplace of ideas. There they will be discussed, debated, examined, and ultimately embraced, amended, or discarded. These wide-ranging memos from serious scholars represent useful, much needed, and timely contributions to this marketplace."--Roger B. Porter, IBM Professor of Business and Government, Harvard University, and former assistant to President George H. W. Bush for economic and domestic policy
Author Information
Richard D. Morgenstern is a senior fellow at Resources for the Future. Paul R. Portney is president and a senior fellow at Resources for the Future.