Department of Energy (DOE) Sustainable Energy Program  Meetings - Public Participation Encouraged

1. Meeting dates/locations: 

June 19, 2001:  Boston, Massachusetts - Location: John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, 55 Broadway, Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02142-1093.

June 19, 2001:  Seattle, Washington - Location: Bell Harbor International Conference Center, International Promenade Room, Pier 66, 2211 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA  98121-1604.

June 21, 2001:  Denver, Colorado - Location: Adam's Mark Hotel Denver, 1550 Court Place Denver, Colorado  80202.

June 21, 2001:  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Location:  Myerson Auditorium, 210 South 34th Street, Philadelphia, PA  19104.

June 26, 2001:  Washington, D. C. - Location:  Washington Hilton and Towers, 1919 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, DC. 20009

2. Information:

To accommodate as many individuals as possible, each speaker will be limited to five minutes.  In the event that time does not permit all individuals who would like to comment, several other options are available to receive public input. Forms will be available at each location to provide hand-written comments. Written comments will be accepted and must be submitted to the Department of Energy no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT, June 29, 2001.  Written comments should be no more than four single spaced pages, using 12 pitch font and 1 inch margins.  All written comments will be included in the proceedings of the seven public meetings.  The Department of Energy also invites their federal partners to submit written comments.  Comments may be sent to: Ms. Bonny Overton, U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, EE 3.1, 1000 Independence Avenue, S. W., Washington, D.C.   20585, or email to EERENEP.comments@ee.doe.gov.

People can participate both in person and in writing.

Participation in the public meetings on USDOE's sustainable energy programs is by testifying in person and/or submitting written comments.  It is advised that those who intend to testify in person should also submit written comments.  Everyone is encouraged to follow the rules that have been established by the Department, e.g., no more than 4 written pages. 

Suggestions re: written and/or oral comments:

Don't be intimidated by the issues that the notice says to address. These issues can be addressed without being expert in the detailed operation of federal programs.  Following are some suggestions for answering the 4 issues enumerated in the USDOE meeting notice:

(a) The objectives of the current energy efficiency and renewable energy research, development, demonstration and deployment programs: It is a legitimate government role to support long-term, high-risk research in advance of private investments.  In the mid-1970s private industry was not prepared to invest in technologies that would not be commercial for a decade or more.  Because of federal investments the US sustainable energy technologies and designs have been researched, developed and demonstrated that otherwise would have waited decades to be created by the private sector. Because of federal programs the nation is well on its way to finding the technological solutions needed to solve growing energy and environmental problems.

(b) Suggested potential objectives for future programs: There are gaps in the federal RD&D continuum.  Not the least of these is the need for greater commercialization support.  Direct investment in public/private partnership projects and low cost financing programs for consumers and investors, for example, would greatly expedite the rate at which sustainable energy alternatives are introduced into the private market.  Similarly more must be done to assure that decentralized energy systems, e.g., wind and PV, are fairly and frequently able to connect to the central grid. Interconnection and other basic infra-structure issues must be addressed by federal programs and policies. Consumer education should be a high priority of federal programming, as surveys show that most consumers of energy know very little about its origin or true environmental and economic impacts. Moreover, the federal government should itself become a significant purchaser of sustainable energy technology and green power, i.e., electricity generated by renewable resources.  Realistic but challenging targets should be established, e.g., 10 percent, and each agency-from Defense to Energy-should be required to meet a portion of its annual energy needs using sustainable energy technologies and designs.

(c) Implementation of current and future programs:  Effective implementation of current and future programs is a function of several key factors including: adequacy of resources; stability of budget and policy commitments; the quality of the relationship between public and private sectors; regular peer review of programs; program design; and a clear vision of what is trying to be achieved. The volatility of federal programs, e.g., on-gain/off-again nature of federal appropriations, has impeded the performance of past and present programs.  In the future it is important to have a bi-partisan federal agenda that stabilizes and grows federal programs in a manner consistent with good management and the nation's energy and environment needs. 

(d) Whether these Federal programs are achieving intended objectives: Unequivocally the answer is yes!  Economists at Resources for the Future concluded that renewable technologies that generate electricity have actually done as well or better in terms of cost and performance than the goals that policy-makers had set for them.  [see McVeigh, Butraw, Darmstadter and Palmer at www.rff.org.  Energy efficiency programs have done even better.  While changes in the structure of the economy may account for some of the reduction most analysts believe that greater energy efficiency is a significant part of it. [John P. Holdren, 2001, "Searching for a National Energy Policy," Issues in Science and Technology 17 (3) (Spring).  A more important question is can federal programs achieve more?  The answer to this is also unequivocally yes!  However, this will require bi-partisan effort to reflect in federal budgets and programs the high priority that voters place on the development and commercial introduction of sustainable energy alternatives. 

A recent Washington Post-ABC poll showed that a majority of Americans thought the Administration's proposed energy plan needed to be more responsive to the environment and to sustainable energy alternatives.  Future performance of federal programs depends upon the present capacity of the nation's leaders-no matter their party or philosophy-to respond to public demand for a national energy strategy that produces adequate power at reasonable rates, while not harming the environment. 

Numbers count!

The Administration is not only interested in what is being said but in how many people take the time to say it.  Please take the time to testify in person or to submit written comments by June 29th deadline. 

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