Can the US become self-sufficient for energy?

David Ruth
713-348-6327
druth@rice.edu

Franz Brotzen
713-348-6775
franz.brotzen@rice.edu

Can the US become self-sufficient for energy?
Jan. 18 conference at Rice University’s Baker Institute to focus on rising supply of North American energy resources

“Energy independence” is a term often tossed around during political campaign seasons. But have technological advances made it possible for the United States to actually attaining near self-sufficiency? And what about the environmental challenges of tapping into the vast new finds of shale oil and shale gas and how it will affect the future potential of domestic renewable energy resources?

A daylong conference at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Jan. 18 will feature high-level representatives from industry, science, government and the environmental movement to address the issues raised by the North American energy boom.

Who: Leading energy analysts, academic scholars and global oil-industry leaders from the United States, Mexico and Canada, including Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council; John Deutch, Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; James Mulva, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips; Juan José Suárez Coppel, director general of Pemex; James Hackett, chairman and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum; Philip Sharp, president of Resources for the Future; Scott Nyquist, director of global energy practice at McKinsey & Co.; Terry Engelder, professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University; and Robert Jackson, the Nicholas Professor of Global Environmental Change at Duke University.

What: Conference on “North American Energy Resources Summit.”

When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan 18.

Where: Rice University, Baker Hall’s Doré Commons, 6100 Main St.

The event is organized by the Baker Institute’s Energy Forum, with support from PFC Energy.

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7. To schedule an interview, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at druth@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

The event is by invitation only but open to members of the news media. It will be webcast athttp://bakerinstitute.org/events/north-american-energy-resources-summit. A conference agenda can also be found on the page.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Franz Brotzen atfranz.brotzen@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.