Forty years ago, the U.S. observed Earth Day for the first time. I was a student at MTSU at the time, and I helped to plan events to call attention to the challenges of the time: air pollution, toxic waste and the loss of wildlife. It was an uphill battle, but with cooperation and commitment from researchers, business leaders and citizens, we made incredible progress.
While those problems are not yet behind us, the time when rivers caught fire with pollution seems like a distant memory. Today’s young people face a new challenge—energy independence.
The stakes could not be higher. Real energy independence isn’t just about the environment; it’s about national security, economic recovery and the future of America’s world leadership. Today, the United States depends on other parts of the world for more than two-thirds of the oil it uses. Foreign oil cartels can disrupt our economy or attempt to influence our foreign policy by imposing an oil embargo like they did in 1973. As long as we stay locked in these relationships with volatile parts of the world, our national security will be weakened and our recovering economy will not be able to achieve its full potential.
What’s more, reducing our oil use alone will not necessarily end this dangerous dependence. Right now, other countries are investing heavily in developing clean energy technologies, laying the foundation to corner the market for solar power, hydro power and the equipment necessary to produce it. If we don’t act now, our foreign dependency will one day just switch from petroleum to dependence on technology for alternative energy.
Unless we maintain our competitive edge in research, our economy will still be held hostage to whatever country has the best control of the energy market. Whatever the power source of the 21st century turns out to be, the United States needs to be the one with its hand on the switch.
As chair of the Committee on Science and Technology, I’ve been working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who do not accept a future in which the U.S. economy plays second fiddle to foreign innovators. Three years ago, we brought together leaders of industry, business and scientific research to establish an agency to lead the fight for energy independence. One year ago, it received its start-up funding.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency at the Department of Energy, or ARPA-E, brings together America’s best minds to develop the energy technologies of the future. The groundbreaking agency is being reauthorized this year as part of the America COMPETES Act. The good news is, while the program is young, it’s already succeeding.
This year, in the program’s third round of grants, we’re seeing the developing of grid-scale energy storage research that could transform how power is delivered to homes. The agency has invested in research to perfect efficient home cooling technologies and make our buildings more efficient for consumers, because the cheapest form of energy is the energy you don’t use. We’re putting even more focus on commercial application to move these technologies from the lab to the market even faster.
ARPA-E also has the flexibility to invest in bold, game-changing research that might be too risky for typical investors but has the power to completely revolutionize how we think about energy production in the future. DARPA, the Department of Defense agency on which ARPA-E is modeled, gave its experts free reign to conduct high-risk, high-reward research. As a result, we saw unbelievably important breakthroughs: GPS, stealth technology and the Internet itself. Just one breakthrough from ARPA-E’s researchers could be decisive in making the United States energy independent.
Tennessee has great potential to take leadership in this nationwide effort. In addition to our great universities and research facilities, we have success stories like Nissan in Smyrna that show how committing to efficiency can lead to record profits and create thousands of jobs. Energy innovations like those coming out of ARPA-E helped make these success stories possible. Right now, 10,000 jobs are being created by Nissan’s expanded production of its all-electric Leaf. The Leaf itself would not be possible without the research that extended the life and storage capacity of the lithium-ion battery.
American innovation fuels American jobs. With Tennessee at the front of the pack, this is a model worth the investment.
