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The Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA) culminated decades of dispute over natural gas policy and was the "centerpiece of President Carter's National Energy Act. Now there are many issues of both regulatory and legislative concerns under discussion. These items were unanticipated by the framers of this difficult and delicate compromise. Generally speaking, they all stem from the fact that oil prices more than doubled in 1979 and 1980. The NGPA1s framers set wellhead gas prices within the new law's framework in such a way that they would converge on oil equivalent prices -- as they were then perceived -- in real dollar terms by 1985.

This report analyzes the behavior of the industrial component of natural gas demand, examining the conditions in the industries that consume natural gas that might lead to reduced demand. The nitrogen-based fertilizer industry is examined as an example of a major natural gas consuming industry that has been affected by high and/or fluctuating prices.

This report provides a summary of major legislative proposals for change in the farm bill energy title (Title IX) and compares current law with energy provisions from the recently approved House 2007 farm bill.

This report discusses the renewable energy policy initiatives that have been included in almost every 2007 farm bill proposal in both the House and Senate.

This report provides a section-by-section summary of the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Discussions of legislative background and policy implications are provided for bill titles and subtitles that address unified programs or policy areas.

A rationale for federal financial support to Amtrak has been that rail service conserves energy, compared to other forms of intercity passenger transportation. The numbers discussed in this report suggest that the rationale might not be valid with regard to autos and buses. The report discusses some public policy implications that could follow from that conclusion.

A rationale for federal financial support to Amtrak has been that rail service conserves energy, compared to other forms of intercity passenger transportation. The numbers presented in this report suggest that the rationale might not be valid with regard to some alternative modes of transportation, and the report discusses some public policy implications that could follow from that conclusion.

This report describes federal programs that provide grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other direct or indirect regulatory incentives for energy efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy. For each program, the report provides the administering agency, authorizing statute(s), annual funding, and the program expiration date. The appendixes provide summary information in a tabular format.

Heightened natural gas prices have emerged as a key energy-policy challenge for at least the early part of the 21st century. With the recent run-up in gas prices and the expected continuation of volatile and high prices in the near future, a growing number of voices are calling for increased diversification of energy supplies. Proponents of renewable energy technologies identify these clean energy sources as an important part of the solution. Increased deployment of renewable energy (RE) can hedge natural gas price risk in more than one way, but a recent report by Berkeley Lab evaluates one such benefit in detail: by displacing gas-fired electricity generation, RE reduces natural gas demand and thus puts downward pressure on gas prices. Many recent modeling studies of increased RE deployment have demonstrated that this ''secondary'' effect of lowering natural gas prices could be significant; as a result, this effect is increasingly cited as justification for policies promoting RE. The Berkeley Lab report summarizes recent modeling studies that have evaluated the impact of RE deployment on gas prices, reviews the reasonableness of the results of these studies in light of economic theory and other research, and develops a simple tool that can be used to evaluate the impact of RE on gas prices without relying on a complex national energy model.