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Why Higher Oil Prices May Not Change U.S. Energy Policy
As military actions between Iran and Israel continued, two tankers collided on Tuesday, caught fire and spilled oil in the Gulf of Oman. The incident briefly sent shock waves through the oil market as investors contemplated a closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
One estimate found that a closure in the crucial shipping route could result in oil prices soaring to $120 a barrel.
So would higher oil prices push more people, or governments, to move away from fossil fuels?
Short-term spikes in oil prices might translate into temporary changes in consumption patterns, analysts have said. But they are not likely to have a significant impact on long-term oil production or consumer habits.
Oil shocks, often accompanied by increases in gasoline prices, have bedeviled presidents since the Nixon era. But while no one likes paying more for gasoline, big price spikes have not translated into sweeping, long-term changes to domestic energy policy in the United States.
To understand why, I spoke to Meg Jacobs, a historian who teaches at Princeton University and the author of 'Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s.'
She pointed to two lessons from the energy crisis of the 1970s.
The first lesson from the energy crisis, Jacobs said, is that even though it worried voters, it didn't lead to the development of a more robust domestic energy policy in the United States.
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