Energy policy and energy (in)dependence in the United States from the early 1970s to the end of the 20th century

Master's s thesis analyzes energy policy and data series of individual energy commodities in the United States during the years 1970-2000. The thesis attempts to evaluate the hypothesis as follows: "The United States has sought to increase the coverage of domestic demand for energy resources from its own reserves, thereby increasing the country's energy security and independence." In the theoretical part, the thesis examines not only the definition of energy policy, security and independence, but also international institutions and energy resources. These findings are further used in the practical part, which makes it possible to answer not only the hypothesis being tested, but also partial research questions: How has the share of domestic energy sources in total energy consumption changed over the period 1970-2000? How much change has occurred in energy production in the United States over the period? How has oil consumption evolved over the period? Did the situation between the United States and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries play a role in the political push for energy independence? In the practical part of the thesis, a comprehensive analysis of the data (consumption, production, exports and imports, or world comparisons as appropriate) is carried out, together with a description and explanation of the results. At the end of the practical part, the results of consumption and production of all primary energy sources are evaluated by means of synthesis. After the analysis it can be concluded that both variables (consumption and production) have more or less increased over time. Considering the results, the hypothesis can be evaluated as follows. It is true that the production of some commodities increased over time, but the overall average annual growth in production was lower than the growth in consumption.