Energy from the Earth: Practical Geoscience to Inform Energy Legislation

Alexandria, VA — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), in collaboration with the Geoscience Energy Briefing Coalition, announces the debut event of the Energy from the Earth: Practical Geoscience to Inform Energy Legislation briefing series.

The Energy from the Earth congressional briefing series will highlight the importance of geoscience information for sound energy and environmental legislation. The series will focus on the geological resources (petroleum, natural gas, coal, uranium, thorium, geothermal, and water) that supported almost 90 percent of the energy consumed by the United States in 2011.

The first event, sponsored by Rep. Doc Hastings, Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, will feature speakers Brenda Pierce, Program Coordinator of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Energy Resources Program, and Scott W. Tinker, Professor and State Geologist of Texas, The University of Texas at Austin, and a Trustee of the American Geosciences Institute Foundation. They will provide an overview of the range of energy options available in the United States and the geoscience that underpins those options. Gene Whitney, an independent consultant in Washington, D.C., will moderate.

The Geoscience Energy Briefing Coalition will hold subsequent briefings beginning in January 2014, covering topics including geothermal energy, natural gas exports, nuclear energy, shale oil and gas, oil sands, and energy exploration.

The Geoscience Energy Briefing Coalition consists of geoscientific professional societies and federal agencies, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the American Geophysical Union, the American Geosciences Institute, the Association of American State Geologists, the Geological Society of America, the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Geosciences, and the U.S. Geological Survey.