The Energy Crisis: Past and Present
American energy policy since World War II, taught as MIT OpenCourseWare history course. The syllabus moves from postwar suburbanization and the rise of car culture through the 1970s oil shocks, when declining domestic oil production raised fears about fuel supply, to the growth of the environmental movement and the more recent politics of global warming. Topics include nuclear power development, the Middle East's role in oil supply, the search for clean energy alternatives, and the political and diplomatic maneuvering around each crisis. Materials include the full syllabus, weekly readings, and assignments as posted by the instructor, free to access with no signup required. There is no certificate. The course treats energy scarcity and environmental risk as intertwined problems that recur across decades, giving equal weight to the technological, economic, and cultural dimensions of each episode.