--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why is our (US) government the only one…" description: "\"Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized world with a stupid, short-term energy policy? Why do our elected officials consider a Europea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/donella-meadows-9060_civilized_why-is-our-us-government-the-only-one-in_246225.png" --- # Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized… ![“Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized world with a stupid, short-term energy policy? Why do our elected officials consider a European or Japanese-type energy tax not only unpassable but undiscussable?” quote by Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/donella-meadows-9060_civilized_why-is-our-us-government-the-only-one-in_246225.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/donella-meadows-9060_civilized_why-is-our-us-government-the-only-one-in_246225.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/donella-meadows-9060_civilized_why-is-our-us-government-the-only-one-in_246225.png) > “Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized world with a stupid, short-term energy policy? Why do our elected officials consider a European or Japanese-type energy tax not only unpassable but undiscussable?” [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The US favors short‑term, politically convenient energy decisions over long‑term, sustainable solutions, unlike many advanced nations. **In simple terms:** US energy policy is short‑term and politically driven. Key Takeaway Advocate long‑term, evidence‑based energy planning. Themes energy policy politics short‑term thinking sustainability Mood frustrated critical hopeful Type analytical persuasive When to use this quote - legislative debates - public hearings - corporate lobbying - environmental advocacy Key Concepts systems thinking policy inertia tax resistance Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens influence long‑term energy decisions? - What incentives could make energy taxes politically viable? A Different Perspective Political cycles and lobbying can block long‑term reforms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Elected officials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elected-officials/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Energy policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy-policy/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Short term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-term/) [Taxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxes/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Surely it is obvious enough, if one looks at the whole world, that it is becoming daily better cultivated and more fully peopled than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tertullian/surely-it-is-obvious-enough-if-one-looks-at-the-whole-world-that-it/) [Tertullian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tertullian/) > [Everyone town of 100,000 in the United States should have a Classical Theater supported by the town, or the state of the county, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-randall/everyone-town-of-100-000-in-the-united-states-should-have-a-classical/) [Tony Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-randall/) > [I will do anything that is basically covered by the law to reduce Berkshire's tax rate. 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I call this bad idea 'cap-and-tax'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-sensenbrenner/i-am-a-leader-in-the-fight-against-the-national-energy-tax-proposal/) [Jim Sensenbrenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-sensenbrenner/) > [I talked to a lot of employers who just are, are fearful of what's coming next out of Washington. It's all the spending, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boehner/i-talked-to-a-lot-of-employers-who-just-are-are-fearful-of-what-s/) [John Boehner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boehner/) > [Every policy is shaped by two forces: background analysis and foreground politics. The political forces are loud, self-serving and, in the case of energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/every-policy-is-shaped-by-two-forces-background-analysis-and/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [We've subsidized oil companies for a century. That's long enough. It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-ve-subsidized-oil-companies-for-a-century-that-s-long-enough-it-s/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [An energy tax punishes senior citizens, it punishes rural Americans, if you use electricity it punishes you. This bill will increase your cost of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/an-energy-tax-punishes-senior-citizens-it-punishes-rural-americans-if/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [There is no question we need an energy policy overhaul in America. A key part of that overhaul must include moving forward aggressively with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-paulsen/there-is-no-question-we-need-an-energy-policy-overhaul-in-america-a/) [Erik Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-paulsen/) > [U.S. energy policy is about far more than jobs and the economy. It is a critical component of our foreign policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hurd/u-s-energy-policy-is-about-far-more-than-jobs-and-the-economy-it-is-a/) [Will Hurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hurd/) > [Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/hillary-clinton-has-decided-to-line-up-with-john-mccain-in-pushing-to/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [I'm an advocate for a full spectrum of energy policy, but we're never going to get there with solar cells that are going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-zinke/i-m-an-advocate-for-a-full-spectrum-of-energy-policy-but-we-re-never/) [Ryan Zinke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-zinke/) > [As president, things that you're supposed to focus on, things like the economy, like energy policy, which is completely tied to national security, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-burgum/as-president-things-that-you-re-supposed-to-focus-on-things-like-the/) [Doug Burgum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-burgum/) ## More by Donella Meadows > [Ending poverty calls for humility, honesty, freedom from ideology and refusal to accept cruel simplicities about anyone's human potential. It requires listening to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/ending-poverty-calls-for-humility-honesty-freedom-from-ideology-and/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany have detailed plans to cut their greenhouse emissions by 20 to 50 percent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/denmark-the-netherlands-and-germany-have-detailed-plans-to-cut-their/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [A grand jury hears only one side - that of the prosecutor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/a-grand-jury-hears-only-one-side-that-of-the-prosecutor/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [What Clinton did with Lewinsky was despicable but was no threat to the nation. That he lied about it repeatedly and to the public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/what-clinton-did-with-lewinsky-was-despicable-but-was-no-threat-to/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Before they got vengeful, conservatives had some useful points to make about welfare. Government 'help' is too often guilt-assuaging gesture. It creates layers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/before-they-got-vengeful-conservatives-had-some-useful-points-to-make/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Social services, not wealth per se, seem to be the key to lower birth rates. The Chinese, although among the poorest peoples of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/social-services-not-wealth-per-se-seem-to-be-the-key-to-lower-birth/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [You should issue demerits for tree cutting or the destruction of humus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/you-should-issue-demerits-for-tree-cutting-or-the-destruction-of-humus/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [A good leader sets the right goals, gets things moving, and helps us to discover that we already know what to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/a-good-leader-sets-the-right-goals-gets-things-moving-and-helps-us-to/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [The latest scientific assessment has almost doubled the predicted rate of warming if no changes are made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/the-latest-scientific-assessment-has-almost-doubled-the-predicted/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Some call-in moderators are neutral and courteous. Then there's Rush Limbaugh, who is funny and pompous and a scapegoater and hatemonger. His popularity could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/some-call-in-moderators-are-neutral-and-courteous-then-there-s-rush/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Smart development builds on a region's own skills, resources and local businesses. Dumb growth invites a big corporation in, surrenders control and profits to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/smart-development-builds-on-a-region-s-own-skills-resources-and-local/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Glaciers are almost gone from Glacier National Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/glaciers-are-almost-gone-from-glacier-national-park/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [I call the transformed world toward which we can move ‘sustainable,’ by which I mean a great deal more than a world that merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/i-call-the-transformed-world-toward-which-we-can-move-sustainable-by/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [We can't control systems or figure them out. But we can dance with them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/we-can-t-control-systems-or-figure-them-out-but-we-can-dance-with-them/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Mesarovic and Pestel are critical of the Forrester-Meadows world view, which is that of a homogeneous system with a fully predetermined evolution in time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/mesarovic-and-pestel-are-critical-of-the-forrester-meadows-world-view/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) [Explore all 75 Donella Meadows quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) ## More Civilized quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Civilized nations are ones that simply can't endure wrongs or injustice except at home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-anderson/civilized-nations-are-ones-that-simply-can-t-endure-wrongs-or/) Joseph Anderson > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [War is not civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/war-is-not-civilized/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/the-military-mind-is-indeed-a-menace-old-fashioned-futurity-that-sees/) [Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/) > [As long as there are prisons, police, armies, navies; we are not civilized. When the Earth joins together and uses the Earth intelligently, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/as-long-as-there-are-prisons-police-armies-navies-we-are-not/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [We're all intrigued, in our civilized world that we live in, and curious about how we would get on, on an undiscovered island that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/we-re-all-intrigued-in-our-civilized-world-that-we-live-in-and/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are servants, men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-passions-and-appetites-are-stronger-than-the-intellect-men-are/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/savage-peoples-are-ruled-by-passion-civilized-peoples-by-the-mind/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) Browse all 1,043 Civilized quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized world with a stupid, short-term energy policy? 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