Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (7/22/2008)

Duration
1:08:08

SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, Ph.D., President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE: WHY THE U.S. NEEDS A GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY ROADMAP

Prominent energy expert, Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., will discuss the restructuring of global energy markets now underway, and the risk of the U.S. being left behind because we lack a comprehensive global energy security roadmap. The former chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will outline her vision of the necessary components of a comprehensive U.S. energy plan that addresses both energy security goals and the linked concerns of climate change and sustainability.

Dr. Jackson says the U.S. needs an intensive focus on the problem, with leadership from the top to orchestrate participation across the board from government, corporations, universities, and individuals. She warns of a misplaced focus on "energy independence" rather than the correct goal of energy security and sustainability. Noting the importance of the energy issue in the context of the 2008 elections, she urges a national call to action, saying "global energy security is the ‘Space Race’ of this millennium."

Jackson views these issues from an unusual range of venues; as president of Rensselaer - a leading technological research university, as former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-99), as co-chair of the Council on Competitiveness’s “Energy Security, Sustainability, and Innovation” initiative, as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Independent Task Force on Climate Change, and as a member of the Board of the NYSE-Euronext, Marathon Oil, FedEx, IBM, PSEG, and Medtronic. A theoretical physicist, she has held senior leadership and advisory positions in government, industry, research, and academe, with a particular focus on global energy security and the national capacity for innovation. She is “perhaps the ultimate role model for women in science in America,” according to Time Magazine.

This program was recorded in front of a live audience on July 22, 2008