February 7, 2019
Washington, DC—Council on Competitiveness President & CEO Deborah Wince-Smith testified today before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on the status and outlook of energy innovation in the United States. Her testimony built on the Council’s two-plus decades of work in this space.
Wince-Smith will join panelists The Honorable Paul M. Dabbar, Undersecretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy; The Honorable Ernest Moniz, President & CEO, Energy Futures Initiative; Mr. Jason Grumet, President, Bipartisan Policy Center; Mr. Jay Faison, Founder, ClearPath; and Mr. James F. Wood, Interim Director, Energy Institute, West Virginia University to make the case that policymakers must work together, across the aisle, to ensure the United States establishes the next-generation physical, regulatory and financial infrastructure needed to support the nation’s advanced energy and manufacturing enterprise. This means investing in basic research, leading in critical technologies, catalyzing the power and potential of the American worker and securing critical energy infrastructure and next-generation innovation.
“This hearing comes at an important, possibly historic time for U.S. innovation,” said Wince-Smith. “Given the profound impact of science and technology on every aspect of American lives, we should all be concerned with the nation’s ability to lead in science, technology and innovation.”
Innovation in the energy sector has been central to the Council’s efforts over the last decade to drive America’s advanced manufacturing enterprise in an era of energy abundance. Wince-Smith’s testimony is largely informed by the Council’s most recent initiatives and reports in this space: the American Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy; Accelerate: Turbocharging the Manufacturing Renaissance in an Era of Energy Abundance; Secure: Building Resilience and Prosperity in a Digital Economy; and the 2018 Clarion Call. Together, these efforts and reports look back at the last decade, apply the lessons learned across a number of initiatives to present-day challenges and provide an outlook for the future of U.S. competitiveness as will be explored in a groundbreaking new initiative, the “National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers.”
Ms. Wince-Smith’s full testimony will be made available here.
Please contact Katie Sarro ([email protected]) with questions or inquiries.
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About the Council on Competitiveness
For more than three decades, the Council on Competitiveness (Council) has championed a competitiveness agenda for the United States to attract investment and talent and spur the commercialization of new ideas. While the players may have changed since its founding in 1986, the mission remains as vital as ever—to enhance U.S. productivity and raise the standard of living for all Americans.
The members of the Council—CEOs, university presidents, labor leaders and national lab directors—represent a powerful, nonpartisan voice that sets aside politics and seeks results. By providing real-world perspective to policymakers, the Council’s private sector network makes an impact on decision-making across a broad spectrum of issues—from the cutting- edge of science and technology, to the democratization of innovation, to the shift from energy weakness to strength that supports the growing renaissance in U.S. manufacturing. The Council firmly believes that with the right policies, the strengths and potential of the U.S. economy far outweigh the current challenges the nation faces on the path to higher growth and greater opportunity for all Americans.
