The Changing Role of Energy in the U.S. Economy

Energy in America

The CSIS Energy Program conducted research, commissioned papers, held a workshop, and developed this report on the changing role of energy in the U.S. economy. The purpose is twofold: (1) improve understanding of how energy impacts the U.S. economy at multiple levels; and (2) evaluate the performance of policies designed to create economic opportunity in the energy sector.

The Report : The research, commissioned papers, and workshop culminated into this final report, The Changing Role of Energy in the U.S. Economy. The report identifies 13 propositions, which represent the emerging energy issues that policymakers might not be aware of and the areas in which the research community could make further contributions.

The Research: In addition to in-house research, background papers (see below) on key issues were commissioned ahead of the workshop to inform workshop participants and discussions, as well as this final report. The authors presented their work at the workshop.

The Workshop: Held October 2018, participants considered energy’s role in the U.S. economy and how it may change under low-carbon or high-energy-export scenarios. Experts examined the distributive impacts of energy policies and regulation, the significance of technological change and innovation, and the state of the energy community’s understanding of climate impacts on local economies.

The workshop concluded with participants’ views on what research should be prioritized to advance understanding, and what should be better-appreciated, regarding the changing role of energy in the U.S. economy.

This project is made possible by support from the Sloan Foundation. For more on the Energy in America project, click here .

Image
Sarah Ladislaw

Sarah Ladislaw

Former Senior Associate (Non-resident), Energy Security and Climate Change Program

Jesse Barnett

Junior Researcher, Energy and National Security Program