Meeting the Energy Challenges of the 1990s

GAO reported on a conference it sponsored to examine emerging energy policy issues, focusing on: (1) energy supply and demand; (2) energy and the environment; (3) management challenges at the Department of Energy (DOE); (4) the DOE nuclear weapons complex; and (5) energy research and development.

GAO noted that: (1) a panel on the balancing energy supply and demand discussed securing sufficient and reliable future energy supplies to meet the increased energy demand projected for the future; (2) the energy and the environment panel discussed critical choices that energy policymakers needed to make regarding the environmental effects of their energy use decisions; (3) the managing the Department of Energy panel provided an overview of the management challenges facing Congress and DOE regarding its diverse missions; (4) a panel on producing nuclear weapons safely identified several weapons complex issues requiring resolution, such as establishing cleanup priorities and standards, the potential of wasting funds on ineffective cleanup approaches, overlapping oversight and assessment groups, and the acute and long-term health effects of radiation exposure; and (5) the opportunities for energy research and development panel noted that an expanded federal role was needed to assist in the transfer of energy technologies in the workplace.