R&D Needs to Meet America's Future Energy and Climate Challenges
Witnesses and Congressmen described federal R&D funding as “abysmal,” a “tragedy,” and a “pathetic situation” in different statements at a 10 September Select Committee on Energy Independence and Climate Change hearing. The hearing, “Investing in the Future: R&D Needs to Meet America's Energy and Climate Challenges”, was held to discuss university research and development (R&D) funding. Dr. Daniel Kammen, a witness and University of California, Berkeley professor, said Asian and European R&D increase rates are far “outstripping” U.S. rates. The five attending Congressmen and four witnesses from prestigious research universities agreed that government must quickly, but guardedly act to fund necessary energy and climate change R&D.
The witnesses advised specific budget increases, a long-term support commitment, and diverse fund allocation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Susan Hockfield proposed a tripling of the federal R&D budget and, when asked by Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA), she and Dr. Stephen Forrest, VP of Research at the University of Michigan, confirmed that it would eventually need to resemble the NIH budget, or roughly $30 billion. Hockfield said that the U.S has the obligation to sell, not to buy the products of great global warming and energy research.
If Congress increased R&D funding, the private sector would be inspired to invest more in R&D, new and greater partnerships could form, students would be encouraged to stay in the sciences, and local and regional decision makers could make more scientifically well-informed policy decisions. Kammen insisted that the private sector must help the U.S. lead the world on these issues, and a substantial R&D increase would rouse the industry. He strongly recommended that the budget incentivize many different people and projects to create a “broad portfolio.” Hockfield echoed this unassuming funding by saying, “We can't choose winners now.”
Dr. Forrest and Dr. Jack Fellows, a fellow witness and VP of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), promoted partnerships. Fellows explained that there is a “good history” of partnerships to advise future cooperation. Fellows cited how he spent his previous day and would be spending the rest of the day advocating the need for R&D funding to congressional offices with AGU as part of the first Geosciences Congressional Visits Day. Forrest said collaboration between agencies, universities and private companies ally different specialties and supply a “unique training ground” for students. Continuing students' interest in studying energy and climate change became a recurring subject.
Two eye-opening examples seemed to confirm that students are already supremely interested in studying energy and climate change, but that steps must be taken to maintain that interest. Hockfield labeled MIT student interest as “deafening” and illustrated this by explaining that a three-year-old graduate student club dedicated to the issue now includes 700 members. Kammen said he capped a Berkeley energy class at 320 students because he did not have enough qualified graduate assistants.
Students may take more Wall Street jobs, as Hockfield said many do now. She also fears that students will realize that “a bright future” in energy “actually lies elsewhere.” Americans will buy energy and technology from foreign sources if domestic companies do not offer the goods and services needed. Rep. John Hall (D-NY) explained how he purchased wind power from a NY-based company, but the company was bought out by a foreign company. Forrest reminded the Congressmen that the U.S. sets its own priorities and unless R&D is among them, “We'll lose our position inevitably in the world.”
Hockfield said U.S. potential is “boundless,” but we could “swiftly forfeit the advantage to our competitors.” If R&D funding does not increase, these issues would mean substantial losses for the U.S. — less collaboration, an unmotivated private sector, students working for foreign companies, and a loss to international competition.
