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The energy crisis of 1973-1974 was a pivotal event in 20th-century American history. In the wake of the Vietnam war, it exposed the nation's economic vulnerability to foreign powers and precipitated an awareness of limits to the exploitation of natural resources. Further, it forced Americans and the American government in particular to think about the future of energy production and consumption in novel ways - and made such thinking more imperative than ever. Twenty years later, questions about the energy crisis persist. What were the underlying causes of the crisis? What did we learn from it? How has it affected our current energy policies? Will another energy crisis occur in the future? In this volume, the author brings together a range of energy policy experts to address these questions and explore the appropriate role of governments and markets in ensuring a stable, economical and sustainble energy supply. The authors locate the energy crisis in its historical context and find that, contrary to popular opinion, the Arab oil embargo was not responsible for the energy crisis. Rather, they contend, the crisis was caused by a series of short-sighted decisions meant to bring Americans cheaper energy and a cleaner environment. The work concludes that the crisis was resolved by a combination of market forces and government interaction, and they offer perspectives on the need to sustain long-term interest in public-private relationships in the face of short-term political and economic demands.