Energy policy-making in the shadow of an economic crisis

Abstract: When concepts change in order to combat submerging problems on a global level, conclusively, the interpretation of these concepts will change as well. Green economy is replacing Sustainable Development as the basis for environmental discussions, with a focus shift between concepts that depicts an environmental approach more inclined towards economic growth and development, rather than environmental protection and sustainability. The principal interest of this study lies in detecting the same type of priorities, as the concepts are put into practice through national policies. Using Norman Fairclough´s Critical Discourse Analysis as the underlying theory and method for analysis, this thesis will search for similarities between concept and policy, focusing on energy policy and its environmental aspects as adaptions of the leading environmental discourse at the time that the policies were made. The analysis of two distinct electoral party programs of Partido Popular, the now ruling party in Spain, will provide an insight in how a political party would interpret such a shift in priorities. Since the 2011 party program was produced for the election that put Partido Popular into power it is of special interest, as the policies within it are the ones that serve as the foundation of the national policies formed today.