Welcome to readers from the New York Times Dot Earth blog! Dot Earth — a widely read energy and environment blog run by the well-respected reporter and author Andrew Revkin – just featured a post about our efforts on the RE-ENERGYSE energy education proposal, particularly our letter to Congress including over 100 student governments, representing more than one million American students.
For first-time visitors to Americans for Energy Leadership, we’re a new project led by young people to foster the next generation of energy innovators and advance U.S. leadership in the global clean energy sector. Founded at Stanford University in 2009, we’re now headquartered in Washington, DC, working to advance a large-scale federal program for clean energy science and engineering education, with RE-ENERGYSE as a first step. More broadly, we’re empowering young leaders through our Policy Fellowship Program to develop and advance a new national energy innovation agenda capable of bridging the partisan divide and generating broad public support.
We post regular coverage on our blog (also see RSS feed) related to clean energy competitiveness and innovation policy, which we’ll be expanding throughout summer 2010 and beyond. If you’re interested in our work, please contact us, and we’re always open to new ideas and partnerships.
Here are highlights from the post at Dot Earth, including our video on RE-ENERGYSE:
While the political fight over the now-vivid environmental threat attending offshore oil drilling plays out, it remains clear that the country’s lawmakers are not remotely engaged in the multi-pronged energy quest that would be required to move the world toward a non-polluting, yet prosperous future.
One vital prong is education… Last year, Congress largely rebuffed Obama’s request for $115 million for the program, called Regaining our Energy Science and Engineering Edge. He’s trying again, this time seeking $74 million in the 2011 budget. Last week, as cameras focused on Gulf coasts girding for an oil assault, 107 presidents of university and college student governments distribued a letter calling on lawmakers to get serious about energy education. Here, an organizer of the effort, Teryn Norris, explains why students are upset:
The letter, initiated by Americans for Energy Leadership and Associated Students of Stanford University, noted that the country’s energy-engineering workforce is rapidly graying, while “only 106 of the country’s over 6,500 post-secondary institutions offer focused courses in renewable energy technology and efficiency.”
The letter concluded: “American students are ready and willing to rise to this national challenge, and we need the federal government to support our education and training.”
Generation E is ready and waiting. Is Congress willing to chip in?
