Rice University Professor to testify at Congressional Subcommittee Field Hearing

Rice University Professor to testify at Congressional Subcommittee Field Hearing
 
BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News Staff

Walter Chapman, director of Rice’s Energy and Environmental Systems Institute, will testify Feb. 29 at a field hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. The hearing, to be held at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at 10:30 a.m., is entitled “Energizing Houston: Sustainability, Technological Innovation and Growth in the  Energy Capital of the World.”
 

NICK LAMPSON

Dr. Chapman will describe Rice’s energy vision to the committee. “Innovative research and novel initiatives are providing new opportunities in conventional and unconventional oil and gas as well as renewable energy technologies.” he said.
 
Chapman emphasized Rice’s role in educating students about the scale of energy demand. He will testify that there are no quick answers to the energy problems facing today’s world, but that sound scientific and economic bases are needed to develop public policy.
 
The hearing is aimed at investigating how the energy industry and cities like Houston are working to address energy challenges, such as energy independence, global climate change and economic growth.
 
Subcommittee Chairman Lampson and subcommittee members in attendance will hear testimony from public, academic and energy industry leaders in Texas and discuss new strategies for tackling these issues.
 
Houston Mayor Bill White, John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Company, and Thomas Standish, president of regulated operations at CenterPoint Energy, will appear on the first panel of the morning.
 
Chapman will be joined on his panel by Robert Harriss, president & CEO of Houston Advanced Research Center; Robert Hirsch, senior energy adviser for Management Information Services Inc.; and Michael Ming, president of the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America.
 
The event is open to the public and will be held in James A. Baker III Hall’s Doré Commons.