Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin
By Gabriel Vasquez
A spark of genius is returning to Las Cruces. The second annual Re-Energize America conference, slated for Thursday and Friday, June 3 and 4, will corral a group of national experts in the energy field to speak on various topics related to short-term planning for long-term energy independence. U.S. Representative Harry Teague is once again the program’s honorary chair.
“Developing a comprehensive energy plan that incorporates both traditional and renewable energy resources is critical in cementing southern New Mexico as a leader in the energy industry,” Teague said, announcing the event.
The two-day conference, to be held at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road, will offer attendees the opportunity to discuss domestic solutions to energy problems with leaders in government, industry and academia. Job creation will be a focus of the conference.
“This has been one of my top priorities while in Congress, working with great organizations like NMSU to develop research and production programs that take advantage of our state’s unique resources,” Teague said.
According to the program’s agenda, the conference will go “beyond policy discussions,” with a distinct focus on how participants can help develop a short-term plan for long-term sustainability. Participants will listen to panelists speak about creating new energy jobs, jobs through investments in energy efficiency, the technology behind energy independence, new energy jobs for New Mexico, creating new energy entrepreneurs, new jobs in nuclear energy and the role of oil and gas during the transition. Active discussions will be held during panel sessions.
“Energy is one of the most important issues we’re faced with in this country,” said Abbas Ghassemi, director of NMSU’s Institute for Energy and the Environment, announcing the conference. “Energy availability, sustainability, delivery and impact on natural resources like water and reliable and dependable sources of energy are so significant to the sustenance of the way of life that we have.”
NMSU’s Institute for Energy & the Environment is sponsoring the conference with support from the Arrowhead Center’s PROSPER Project, International Relations Institute, Water Resources Research Institute and the College of Arts and Sciences.
At last year’s conference, the event featured an impressive lineup of speakers that included Steven Chu, U.S. secretary of energy; Dick Williams, president of Shell Wind; Diane Denish, lieutenant governor; Jeff Trucksess, president of Green Earth Fuels; Bob Gallagher, president of the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association; Paul Foster, CEO of Western Refining; and Tom Bowles, science advisor to Governor Bill Richardson.
“At Shell, we operate on three hard truths,” Williams said during last year’s conference. “One, our source of energy is going to die. Second, the easy-to-get stuff is gone. Third, anything we do has an environmental stress.”
Panelists and speakers this year include Barbara Couture, president of NMSU; Jim Ford, vice president of federal government affairs for ConocoPhillips; Jason Pyle, CEO of Sapphire Energy; Steve Fischmann, state senator; Russell Schmitt, president of CleanSwitch; Jon Goldstein, secretary of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department; Jeff Bingaman, U.S. senator; Margie Tatro, director of Fuel and Water Systems for Sandia National Laboratories; and Arun Bose, program manager for the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Several other speakers from various sectors related to the energy industry are also slated to make an appearance.
The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required and is limited to 400 participants. At last year’s conference, more than 400 showed up for the two-day event.
“We hope participants and audience members alike will participate in coming up with solutions,” Ghassemi said. “Solutions to these problems are very complex in nature. It is not as simple as coming up with a technology … to solve all the problems.
“(Attendees) will be able to participate in developing a plan on how to go about achieving energy independence. We cannot come up with a solution that is forced down; it really needs to be a grassroots, working up as well as the highest level of our local, state and federal governmental policies that meet each other halfway.”
Other conference sponsors include ConocoPhillips, Lockheed Martin, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Sapphire Energy and the Carlsbad, N.M., Department of Development.
“We have not come close to reaching the limits of renewable energy technologies and now is the time to collaborate our efforts and resources,” Teague said. “Building off the success of last year’s conference, this year’s Re-Energize America will once again bring together policy, industry and academic experts and help move New Mexico’s energy future forward.”
For more information on the conference and to register, visit energize.nmsu.edu or call Karen Mikel at 646-2162 or Aggie Saltman at 646-9323.
