Intended for use by high school debaters and their teachers, this book provides guidelines for research on the debate topic for the 1978-1979 school year: "What should be the energy policy of the United States?" The first section is designed to broaden the student's comprehension of the debating process by focusing on the meaning of the energy problem, stressing the importance of being problematical, and defining the terms involved in three resolutions generated on the debate topic. Over half of the book discusses the energy problem in the world today and presents 14 tables of information on the subject such as: United States gross energy input by source, the framework of the energy department, the world production of crude petroleum, United States fuel production and consumption, and nuclear and solar power. A selected bibliography of pertinent books, periodicals, law journals, and government documents is appended. (MAI)