The recent spike in oil prices has raised concerns about the impact of energy prices on the U.S. economy. But to environmentalists, the clamor for oil-price relief is just another indication that federal energy policies have done little to reduce America's thirst for oil. Despite increasingly stringent air-quality standards imposed over the past three decades, the combustion of oil and coal continues to pollute many cities. Moreover, continued reliance on fossil fuels also produces excessive levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas implicated in global warming. Some energy experts say it's time to reassess nuclear energy's potential, but critics say it isn't as clean as supporters claim, and that safe storage of nuclear waste remains unresolved.

Mary H. Cooper specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues. Before joining CQ Researcher as a staff writer in 1983, she was a reporter and Washington correspondent for the Rome daily newspaper l'Unita. She is the author of The Business of Drugs (CQ Press, 1990). She also is a contract translator-interpreter for the U.S. State Department. Cooper graduated from Hollins College in English.