Presidential Candidates Urged to Discuss Questions Key to U.S. Energy Security and Competitiveness

WASHINGTON – The Council on Competitiveness, a group of business, labor and university leaders dedicated to boosting American economic growth and prosperity, today issued an open letter to each of the presidential candidates, calling on them to explain how they would advance a comprehensive strategy for energy security, productivity and sustainability. The effort is a part of the Council’s Energy Security, Innovation & Sustainability (ESIS) Initiative.

The ESIS Initiative leaders noted that, to date, key energy issues have been almost entirely absent from the presidential debates, even though energy is a driver of U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace and is a key focus of business enterprise worldwide. Securing access to energy supply, increasing the nation’s energy productivity, maximizing the economic value of each unit of energy consumed and minimizing environmental impact – each of these issues must be addressed if the U.S. is to remain competitive. Yet there has been little discussion about the role of government in creating the environment for progress in energy security. Likewise, there has been limited debate about how to create the conditions necessary to stimulate innovation in the energy arena or about the steps necessary to ensure an adequate energy workforce to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Key energy questions are being provided to the organizers of the remaining presidential primary debates, set for next Tuesday, February 26, and Thursday, February 28, in Cleveland, Ohio. The next major round of presidential primaries – set for the following Tuesday, March 4 – includes Texas, an epicenter of the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Recognizing the urgency of the 21st century energy challenge, the Council launched the ESIS Initiative in 2007. The ESIS Initiative provides a private-sector-led platform to drive sustainable energy solutions and to enhance U.S. energy security and global competitiveness.

In their open letter to the presidential candidates today, ESIS Initiative co-chairs James Owens, chairman & CEO of Caterpillar Inc., Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Michael Langford, national president of the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, and Deborah Wince-Smith, Council on Competitiveness president, asked how each candidate would deal with critical competitiveness issues discussed in a recent dialogue among leaders from business, labor and academia. Both the letter and a Council report on the results of the dialogue, Define. The Energy–Competitiveness Relationship, were released today.

The Energy Initiative leaders posed three questions for the presidential candidates:

• As President, what will be the first steps you will take to advance a comprehensive American energy security and sustainability strategy?
• What federal policies would you put into place to create the conditions necessary to stimulate energy innovation, including enhancing energy productivity to get the maximum economic value out of each unit of energy consumed?
• What steps would you take to ensure we have the energy workforce we need for the 21st century?

As the ESIS Initiative leaders point out, energy security cannot be achieved without a comprehensive national strategy. This certainly includes reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, but an energy strategy must encompass more. Redundancy of supply and diversity of source are essential if the U.S. is not to be overly dependent on any one energy source or supplier in the marketplace. The match-up of appropriate energy source to sector of use must be optimized – whether supplying energy to heat homes, transport goods, light cities or power business enterprise. Each of these elements must be supported by innovation: technological innovation, policy innovation and innovative global collaboration.

In releasing the questions, the signatories of the letter added their perspective on the urgency of the energy security challenge:

From James Owens, chairman & CEO of Caterpillar: “The private sector recognizes the opportunities and challenges presented by current energy use, and we’re moving to secure the benefits of a new energy future today.”

From Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: “The exponential demand for energy worldwide – and the link to climate change – presents extraordinary geopolitical challenges and offers extraordinary economic opportunities, magnifying the need for a comprehensive energy roadmap. This nation has a tremendous capacity to rise to great challenges, but it will require strong national leadership to spark a new generation of innovation to put us on the pathway to global energy security and sustainability.”

From Michael Langford, national president of the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO: “America’s workforce is the critical underpinning of our energy system. Our investments in technology and infrastructure must be matched by investments in training and education.”

And from Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness: “Energy is the cornerstone of U.S. productivity and global competitiveness – and this has not been adequately articulated in the presidential campaign thus far, even though this will be one of the central challenges the next administration must face.”

For more information, contact Peter L. Kelley (peter@kelleycampaigns.com or 202 270 8831).