Comment on the State of the Union Address and Energy Productivity from Leaders of the Energy Security, Innovation & Sustainability Initiative of the Council on Competitiveness
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (bio & pic) and Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness and NASDAQ board member (bio & pic), are available to discuss energy, the economy, and global competitiveness in conjunction with the President’s State of the Union address, and in the midst of the Presidential primary and debate season. Below are a few topics that they would include in the State of the Union address, if they were advising the President’s speechwriters.
Dr. Jackson is co-chair -- along with James W. Owens, Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, and D. Michael Langford, National President of the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO -- of a major initiative -- the Energy Security, Innovation & Sustainability Initiative of the Council on Competitiveness -- which is convening leaders in business, academe, and labor to craft an agenda to enhance U.S. competitiveness and global energy security. She will be co-chairing a meeting of this Initiative Monday in Washington, D.C., with some 25 other CEOs involved in the initiative, and interviews with Dr. Jackson and Ms. Wince-Smith may be scheduled in person or by telephone.
To arrange interviews, please contact Patricia Charles at (440) 506-9564 or patricia@kelleycampaigns.com. For more information, see www.compete.org/esis.
Positioning the U.S. for Economic Prosperity through Energy Productivity
Energy security presents extraordinary economic challenges, but also offers extraordinary economic opportunities that the United States must position itself to capitalize on. Other nations have committed to ambitious energy policies, innovation investments and energy use targets. The U.S. is a global laggard in energy productivity – a measurement of the output and quality of goods and services created per unit of energy – a trend that needs to be reversed if we are to maintain our economic competitiveness. Under the auspices of the Council on Competitiveness, a coalition of business, university and labor leaders have joined together to address U.S. energy security and competitiveness by developing an energy roadmap focusing on (1) economic gains through innovation, (2) economic gains through greater energy efficiencies, and (3) economic gains through workforce development.
Investing in Energy Innovation -- Reversing the Decline in R&D
The U.S. must begin to fund research and development at a greater level and dedicate resources to increasing our energy efficiency. For more than 25 years, there has been a steady decline in public investment in energy-related research and development in the United States. Between 1978 and 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy budget for energy R&D dropped by more than 85 percent. Budgetary support has fallen short in other ways, as well. For example, the America Competes Act -- designed to promote innovation -- was enacted and signed into law with strong bipartisan support, yet was underfunded in the current federal budget.
Meanwhile, worldwide investment capital flowing into sustainable energies increased from $28 billion in 2004 to $71 billion in 2006. We cannot continue to fall behind other nations in R&D investment, in the commercialization and manufacturing of new energy technologies, and in workforce development. These trends must be reversed.
Creating the Right Environment for Energy Innovation
The U.S. must strengthen its global economic competitiveness by adopting innovative solutions to our energy needs by creating the right environment to unleash market forces. However, many existing regulatory policies at the federal, state, and local levels actually create disincentives for businesses to increase energy efficiency and productivity. Federal inaction has prompted states and regions to devise regulations and policies to act as market drivers to stimulate energy investment. That is a good start, but signals from the federal government are essential for a coherent policy which allows businesses to do what they do best -- invest, drive innovation and create new jobs and industries.
ABOUT THE COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS -- The Council on Competitiveness is the only group of corporate CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders committed to the future prosperity of all Americans and enhanced U.S. competitiveness in the global economy through the creation of high-value economic activity in the United States.
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