Energy is Everything—it is the lifeblood of our economy. America’s competitiveness cannot be separated from the issues surrounding energy—how efficiently we use it, how many billions of dollars we send abroad for it and how well we steward it domestically. Nothing will impact American competitiveness more than the development of sustainable energy products and services—an industry with the potential to create millions of new American jobs in the 21st century.

A Comprehensive Roadmap to Achieve Energy Security, Sustainability and Competitiveness

The Council Recommends that:

• The U.S. Government offer full scholarships to U.S.
graduates who commit to a minimum period of service in an energy-related career in the governmental, academic or non-profit sectors.

• Congress establish a CompetePass program that will allow eligible participants to redeem the passes at U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) one-stop training centers.

• The U.S. Government grant green cards to foreign students receiving undergraduate and advanced degrees in scientificand engineering disciplines from U.S. institutions. 

The Council Recommends that:

• Congress support ten commercial-scale carbon capture
demonstrations to be completed by 2020 and three to
five at-scale demonstrations of energy storage technologies.

• Congress support three to five demonstrations of new
nuclear reactors by 2018.

• The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) create the 21st
“Century Clean Energy Leadership Initiative” funded at
$250 million to create regionally-based R&D test-beds and large-scale commercial pilots.

The Council Recommends that:

• Congress set national criteria for transmission siting by creating independent regional planning authorities overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

• FERC require regional planning authorities to allocate costs to construct and upgrade transmission regionally, spreading costs across all jurisdictions served by the new lines.

The Council Recommends that:

• Congress establish a national, low-carbon energy standard for electric utilities that encompass a minimum of 25 percent renewables by 2025. 

• Congress establish a price floor for gasoline that is sufficient to accelerate demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. 

• Congress enact legislation that will result in the establishment of a consistent, predictable and transparent price on carbon emissions.