Senator Jeff Bingaman
Toward Energy Independence
April / May 2007
Volume 5 Number 2
In early March, a dozen of my colleagues in the Senate and I introduced the America Competes Act—€”bipartisan legislation that will make our country more competitive in the global marketplace. It would do so by significantly increasing investment in scientific research, and strengthening educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.
The goal of the legislation is to ensure that the United States retains its position as the home to the world's most leading-edge scientific research and development. Right now our position is being challenged by such countries as China and India, which are educating more scientists, mathematicians and engineers than is the United States, and where much larger investments in R&D are being made.
One of our first tasks is to ramp up the quality of K-12 instruction. The America Competes Act tackles that issue in a number of ways, including improving the teaching workforce. The bill would provide incentives for colleges and universities to develop integrated programs of study in math, science, or engineering with teacher education, so that students enrolled in those programs can earn baccalaureate degrees in those subject areas as they are earning teacher certification. The bill also expands a teacher recruitment scholarship initiative, with an eye toward preparing individuals to become math and science teachers in high-need school districts.
America Competes also provides opportunities for today's teachers to strengthen their math and science teaching skills. It provides opportunities for teachers to go back to school and get a master's degree in math or science education; it significantly increases opportunities for teachers to receive training and to teach advanced placement courses in math or science; and it expands access to summer institutes for teacher training in math and science at both the National Science Foundation and the national labs.
The act also creates opportunities for high school students to participate in math, science and engineering internships, increases access to Advanced Placement courses for students in high-need school districts, and provides a number of graduate research fellowships for students to pursue graduate education in math, science and engineering.
Combined, these initiatives will help ensure that we have the most educated, high-tech ready workforce in the world.
Simultaneously, the act would double the funding for the National Science Foundation in five years and set the Department of Energy's Office of Science on a path to have its funding doubled over ten years.
Finally, the America Competes Act establishes a new research agency at the DOE whose purpose will be to take a scientific breakthrough and help the private sector adapt it for general use so that American taxpayers can realize the full benefit of an energy technology developed by DOE.
Obviously, the goal of the act is to create and retain the best jobs of the future and to bolster our economy. That is one of the most important reasons Congress should pass it and send it to the president this year.
But there is another compelling reason. Spurring innovation can help us tackle two of the most pressing challenges we face today: the need to become more energy independent, and the need to address global warming.
As chairman of the Senate Energy Committee and Natural Resources Committee, one of my main goals is to implement policies that put us on the road to energy independence. We currently import 13 million barrels of oil per day, mostly to fuel our cars and trucks. As a result, we have become overly dependent on countries such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and even Iraq.
R&D investments made through the act will help us transform our transportation sector by advancing technologies such as nanoscience that will help make innovative batteries so that electric and hybrid vehicles run longer and even more efficiently. It also will help make it possible to breakdown plants and algae to create new sources of biofuels without tapping into food supplies.
Innovation in the energy sector will also help us create a "smart grid," which will give us a more reliable energy system, ease integration of new renewable resources, and even create demand-response incentives that will help reduce energy consumption during times when energy use is dangerously high. This will reduce the need to construct new power sources.
Already, extremely valuable research in the area of clean and efficient technology is taking place at Sandia and Los Alamos national labs. Sandia scientists are working on research to replace the light bulb with highly efficient light emitting diodes. At Los Alamos, engineers are working on technology that will allow us to burn coal without releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The act will make an even greater investment in our labs, tapping them for even more energy-related R&D. Relying on innovation to help us become energy independent not only has the potential to create tens of thousands of new jobs, it will help us begin to reverse the problems associated with climate change by increasing efficiency and reducing the use of fossil fuels.
Getting a handle on global warming is critical because it is becoming increasingly clear that greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere are causing average temperatures to rise, which in turn is posing a risk of rising sea levels and increased frequency and severity of floods and droughts.
It's clear to me that the America Competes Act will sustain our vibrant science and technology sector, and with it our nation's well-being, health, environment and security. It will invest in R&D, encourage education and nurture a business environment that transforms new knowledge into new high wage jobs. Passage of this investment initiative will ensure that America remains strong, smart and a world leader in scientific and technological innovation.
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