The federal government should partner with the private sector and academic institutions to support research into the interdependencies between energy and water use, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said last week.
Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, made her remarks during a speech in Washington, D.C. She said a coordinated public-private approach to energy-water nexus issues would promote economic growth and lead to the discovery of breakthrough technologies in energy and water resiliency.
“The federal government can and should facilitate this exchange of information on a national scale,” she said. “All [stakeholders] can team up to advance a better understanding of the energy-water nexus, adopt better practices through technological innovations, and learn from each other about procedures and implementation strategies.”
Murkowski also announced the release of a white paper from her office that examines the importance of the energy-water nexus to the U.S. economy. The paper argues that technological innovations are central to ensuring sustainable energy and water use in this country and recommends reaching this objective through efforts to address data gaps, facilitate public-private partnerships, document best practices and encourage efficient technologies.
Earlier this year Murkowski introduced the “Nexus of Energy and Water for Sustainability (NEWS) Act” (S. 1971), which would direct the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish a committee to coordinate and streamline federal energy and water nexus activities. The bill has yet to advance.