A President's Energy Policy: An Ethical Duty But a Popularity Disaster

Abstract

This study finds that the opposite results were found in response to the announcement of a national energy policy. Instead of Presidential approval ratings going up in the subsequent year, they consistently fell during the following year, with one explicable exception. Instead, it was found that gas prices consistently increase after an energy policy is announced, which is probably the true factor explaining the drop in Presidential approval ratings. This is due to the finding that 52% of a president’s approval rating can be attributed to gas prices. Future national energy policies might consider taking actions that would have an immediate effect on dropping gas prices if they would like to have their energy policies seen favorably. Despite this predictive findings for Presidential approval ratings, the development of a National Energy Policy should be considered not only an ethical obligation but a legal one. A national energy policy has become increasingly critical to our national economy and our national security, a constitutional responsibility of the President.