Energy Policy and Climate Change

In the period between the end of the Second World War and the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, the most critical issues in the energy debate were the impending depletion of non-renewable resources and the level of pollution that the environment is able to sustain. At the time, large investments in nuclear energy technologies were the answer to the
growing energy needs, whereas local pollution was reduced by dilution in a wider environment. By the end of the seventies, it was clear that these policies and approaches were largely inadequate.Sustainability became the new paradigm that both the academic world and public opinion were ready to embrace. By that time, scientists all over the world were starting to raise concerns about climate change and its impacts at the global level. Research demonstrated the correlation between carbon dioxide emissions and increasing global mean temperatures.