The Energy Question: Who Decides?

The Energy Question: Who Decides?

by
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson,
President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Washington Post Company Energy Conference
The Washington Post
Washington, D.C.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

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Good morning.

Global energy security is the greatest challenge of our time, inextricably interlinked with our economic security and our national security. The exponential growth in demand for energy — for which there is abundant evidence — presents both extraordinary challenges, and offers equally extraordinary economic opportunities.

A multiplicity of converging factors makes it bluntly obvious that a comprehensive global energy system restructuring has begun.

The question is — will the United States lead the inevitable restructuring, or will it occur without us? Whichever it is, we are challenged to think about energy in new ways.

The combined forces of energy supply uncertainty, rising energy costs, and the impact of climate change are major drivers of global energy restructuring. So, first, let us examine some of the elements of this restructuring:

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