Life on the Hill

Continued from page 1

Of course, none of that really matters unless similar legislation is passed in the House of Representatives and the conferenced bill is signed into law by the president. And as I saw firsthand last summer, political maneuvering can hinder the adoption of good policy. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-­California) tried to push for a House energy bill by the July 4 recess, but House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman John Dingell (D-Michigan), under pressure from the automakers in his state, prevented that from happening. Pelosi's Plan B was to finish a package on energy and climate change right before the 2008 presidential election. Despite my frustration at seeing how slowly Washington's wheels turn, I realized that Congress's inefficiencies are at least partly beneficial, in that they prevent ill-­considered legislation from becoming law. (The recent surge in oil prices may speed things up, though; as I write this, Pelosi is talking about accelerating the time line for the energy bill.)

Last summer I found reason to be optimistic about the kind of legislation I care about. Washington's small but strong scientific and engineering community is helping frame much of the energy legislation. Doctoral students on fellowships, as well as engineers, are working to create intelligent and well-designed policy. During my internship, I researched and wrote a white paper on how to fund applied energy research and bridge the "valley of death" between invention and innovation. I worked to set up some briefings on China and energy security and attended hearings and briefings all over the Hill to learn about plug-in hybrids, climate change, coal studies, and geothermal energy.

There's so much work to be done. In 1821, Thomas Jefferson observed, "If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise, in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?" Getting a few MIT engineers into public service might help our government talk less and do more.