In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Ty Priest, associate professor of history and geography at the University of Iowa. Priest explains the origin, history, and potential future of the Defense Production Act in the context of US energy development. Priest and Raimi discuss how the act has evolved and expanded under different presidential administrations since it was enacted in 1950 and how the act has been invoked to promote domestic energy security in the face of major concerns such as COVID and climate change.

References and recommendations:

“Global Gambits: Big Steel and the US Quest for Manganese” by Tyler Priest; https://typriest.com/global-gambits/

“‘Can We Please Stop Talking about Energy Independence?’” by Daniel Raimi; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/can-we-please-stop-talking-about-energy-independence/

“Energy Crises: Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Hard Choices in the 1970s” by Jay Hakes; https://www.oupress.com/9780806190983/energy-crises/

“The Bridge: Natural Gas in a Redivided Europe” by Thane Gustafson; https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674987951