Oil and Ideology in the United States Senate

The last decade has brought dramatic changes in U.S. energy policy. These changes provide fertile ground for research. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in the petroleum sector, where developments since the Arab oil embargo of 1973 have been accompanied by major alterations in the direction and scope of federal involvement. The ready availability of both relevant data and tried-and-tested methodologies facilitates scholarly investigation of the effects of post-embargo federal petroleum policy. To be sure, the opportunities for these investigations are not being passed up.