In a recent joint effort, the Department of Energy (DOE) teamed with the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the White House Office of Science and Technology, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States to develop a report for the President on how government can best support the environmental technology industry and increase U.S. competitiveness overseas.
Clyde Frank, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Technology Development and Jessie Harris, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office for Technology Cooperation, Office of Policy, Planning and Program Evaluation, represent DOE in the Interagency Environmental Technology Export Group that was formed at the request of President Clinton in his Earth Day speech in April. In his address the President asked the group to "...assess current environmental technologies and create a strategic plan to give our companies the trade development, promotional efforts and the technical assistance they need to turn these advances into jobs here in America, as well as help promote a better environment."
Kathryn Sullivan, Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce, chairs this group.
The interagency group and its various work groups have been meeting regularly since May to develop material for the report to the White House, due this fall. Some of the topics to be covered in the report include: the process of developing and commercializing environmental technologies and the barriers to success, the process of developing businesses that provide environmental technology and services and the barriers to their success, the need for government to support potential exporters of environmental technologies and services, the need for in-country support to exporters, and public/private efforts to develop overseas markets for U.S. environmental firms.
In an effort to solicit input from the environmental technology community, the group organized a series of stakeholder meetings to discuss the federal export initiative. On August 25, DOE hosted a successful meeting in Los Angeles. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown presided over a large number of panelists and participants from industry, academia, and the financial community. The two other meetings hosted by EPA in their regional offices in Dallas on August 31, and in Boston on September 2, also were well attended. Each meeting consisted of a series of presentations and discussions between federal representatives and panelists from the environmental technology community, and an open question and comment session at the end of the day.
