Experiencing America’s Energy Dependence

WARREN LEFFLE, Long Lines of Cars Waiting for Fuel at a Gas Station, Maryland (1979)

America’s postwar economic boom slowed by the 1970s when the nation faced a recession as well as global political unrest. The significant oil-producing region of the Middle East further complicated America’s political difficulties, as the Arab-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) embargoed oil shipments in response to the West’s support of Israel. Energy prices spiked, causing a severe recession. The oil crisis highlighted America’s vulnerabilities to foreign oil, a dependency that consumers awoke to when oil shortages caused long lines at the pumps.

READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS