Tulsa University lands National Energy Policy Institute
05/26/2009
Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City) , Mar 11, 2009 by Kirby Lee Davis
The National Energy Policy Institute established its headquarters at the University of Tulsa under an agreement signed Tuesday with the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
With an $8 million outlay in September, the foundation created the institute under former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles. It committed another $1 million Tuesday to TU for its support of NEPI, whose two employees will work in a residential tower under conversion to office space.
Tulsa philanthropist George Kaiser said he hopes the institute develops rational, cost-effective recommendations for a national energy policy to reduce both America's dependence on imported oil and its greenhouse gas emissions. By doing that, he said it also would improve the nation's national security while reducing the power of hostile, "medieval" oil-producing governments.
Studies and research supported by the nonprofit also would help position Tulsa as a research center for next-generation energy technology.
"Tulsa and Oklahoma have long provided national energy leadership in oil and gas," said Kaiser, chairman of the Tulsa firms BOK Financial and Kaiser-Francis Oil. "It is now time to forge a new energy role in Tulsa at the leading edge of technology and sustainable energy development."
Besides a wealth of academic talent and research capabilities, the University of Tulsa offers several elements that should help the institute flourish. The Collins College of Business, Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences tout established records for developing and commercializing intellectual property.
TU's College of Law, which hosted the signing Tuesday during its Second Annual Chesapeake Energy Lecture, is already home to the National Energy-Environment Law and Policy Institute, or NELPI. Law school dean Janet Levit said NEPI would fit in well.
"I realize I am just one letter away from a very serious trademark infringement lawsuit by Dean Levit," said Knowles, drawing laughter.
The university also is home to the Petroleum Abstracts, one of the largest such libraries in the world.
"We believe our experience and far-reaching relationships will serve this initiative well," said TU President Steadman Upham.
Legislation backed by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and U.S. Rep. John Sullivan would provide $700,000 in federal funds to support TU's work with the institute.
Knowles said the institute should deliver its first study this fall with the help of TU and Washington, D.C.-based independent research organization Resources for the Future. That study will analyze the real costs, risks and strategies of reducing imported oil and greenhouse gas emissions.
Ken Levit, chief executive of the Kaiser foundation, said that study carried a price tag of $3 million to $5 million.
NEPI also will work with TU to develop an energy business incubator, job-creation initiatives and other traditional academic and educational activities, such as visiting scholar seminars and conferences.
Foreseeing no "silver bullet" answer, but a cocktail of combined elements, Kaiser said the institute would probe four areas that dominate America's immediate concerns: developing alternative transportation fuels and renewable fuels, improving its electrical generation systems, and boosting its conservation efforts.
But Kaiser warned that the nation must not only seek answers, but thoroughly study the processes involved and ramifications of each proposal.
Knowles said authoritative research, analytical modeling and comparative analysis, supported and developed by the institute, would help quantify real costs involved in these proposals on economic, political and social levels. That should allow leaders to make qualified decisions and effective policies.
"What we have now is the sum of all lobbies, not the sum of all wisdom," Knowles said. "The free market economy will make the changes needed if it is given the right signals."