Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Encyclopedia
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute was established by members of the United States Congress
who were concerned with environmental
and energy
problems. The Institute's program includes policy and related research on global environmental issue
s, including climate change
.
based in Washington DC which promotes environmentally sustainable
societies. Founded by a bipartisan and bicameral group of Congressional Members, EESI seeks to be a catalyst that moves society away from environmentally damaging fossil fuels and toward a clean energy
future. EESI advances policy solutions that will result in decreased global warming
and air pollution
; improvements in public health, energy security
and rural economic development opportunities; increased use of renewable energy
sources and improved energy efficiency
; and the protection of areas such as the Arctic and coastal regions.
, former Congressman John Heinz, and former Congressman Gilbert Gude
. Over the years, the Study Conference grew, expanded to the Senate and added the word “energy” to its name. The membership of the Conference grew to more than 85 Senators and 295 Representatives. Because the Conference was unable to support its work entirely on Congressional funds and rules prohibited their receipt of outside financial support, in 1982 they formed the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). EESI was formed as a totally separate and distinct entity, controlled by a private board of directors, which included several Members of Congress. EESI incorporated and received its IRS 501(c)(3) status in 1984.
The founders of the Institute were:
Anthony C. Beilenson
(D-CA), George Brown, Jr.
(D-CA), Bob Edgar (D-PA), Joseph L. Fisher
(D-VA), S. William Green
(R-NY), Gilbert Gude
(R-MD), John Heinz (R-PA), James M. Jeffords (R-VT), Patrick Leahy
(D-VT), Paul N. McCloskey, Jr. (R-CA), Richard L. Ottinger (D-NY), Claudine Schneider
(R-RI), John F. Seiberling
(D-OH), Vin Weber
(R-MN), Howard Wolpe
(D-MI), Louis Stokes
(D-OH), Augustus Hawkins (D-CA), John Chafee
(R-RI), Slade Gorton
(R-WA), Gary Hart
(D-CO)
& Climate
; Sustainable Biomass & Energy, which covers bioenergy
, biofuels and biobased products
from agriculture and forestry; and Transportation & Smart Growth
. The Executive Director is Carol Werner.
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
who were concerned with environmental
Environmental policy
Environmental policy is any [course of] action deliberately taken [or not taken] to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on...
and energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
problems. The Institute's program includes policy and related research on global environmental issue
Environmental issue
Environmental issues are negative aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment. Environmentalism, a social and environmental movement that started in the 1960s, addresses environmental issues through advocacy, education and activism.-Types:...
s, including climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
Background
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a non-profit organizationEnvironmental organization
An environmental organization is an organization that seeks to protect, analyze or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation or lobby for these goals....
based in Washington DC which promotes environmentally sustainable
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
societies. Founded by a bipartisan and bicameral group of Congressional Members, EESI seeks to be a catalyst that moves society away from environmentally damaging fossil fuels and toward a clean energy
Clean Energy Trends
Clean Energy Trends is a series of reports by Clean Edge which examine markets for solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cells, biofuels, and other clean energy technologies. Since the publication of the first Clean Energy Trends report in 2002, Clean Edge has provided anannual snapshot of both the global...
future. EESI advances policy solutions that will result in decreased global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
and air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
; improvements in public health, energy security
Energy security
Energy security is a term for an association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led...
and rural economic development opportunities; increased use of renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
sources and improved energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
; and the protection of areas such as the Arctic and coastal regions.
Formation
EESI grew out of the Environmental Study Conference, which was an informal Congressional study group that began in 1975 with a bi-partisan group of House Members, led by former Congressman Richard OttingerRichard Ottinger
Richard Ottinger is an American politician of the Democratic Party, a former member of the United States House of Representatives, and a legal educator.-Early years:...
, former Congressman John Heinz, and former Congressman Gilbert Gude
Gilbert Gude
Gilbert Gude was a U.S. Congressman who represented the Maryland's 8th congressional district from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1977....
. Over the years, the Study Conference grew, expanded to the Senate and added the word “energy” to its name. The membership of the Conference grew to more than 85 Senators and 295 Representatives. Because the Conference was unable to support its work entirely on Congressional funds and rules prohibited their receipt of outside financial support, in 1982 they formed the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). EESI was formed as a totally separate and distinct entity, controlled by a private board of directors, which included several Members of Congress. EESI incorporated and received its IRS 501(c)(3) status in 1984.
The founders of the Institute were:
Anthony C. Beilenson
Anthony C. Beilenson
Anthony Charles Beilenson is a former Democratic Congressman from Southern California who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1997....
(D-CA), George Brown, Jr.
George Brown, Jr.
George Edward Brown, Jr. was an American politician. He was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1999, representing Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties in California.-Background:Brown was born in Holtville, California...
(D-CA), Bob Edgar (D-PA), Joseph L. Fisher
Joseph L. Fisher
Joseph Lyman Fisher is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He was a Democrat from Virginia....
(D-VA), S. William Green
S. William Green
Sedgwick William "Bill" Green was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York....
(R-NY), Gilbert Gude
Gilbert Gude
Gilbert Gude was a U.S. Congressman who represented the Maryland's 8th congressional district from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1977....
(R-MD), John Heinz (R-PA), James M. Jeffords (R-VT), Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
(D-VT), Paul N. McCloskey, Jr. (R-CA), Richard L. Ottinger (D-NY), Claudine Schneider
Claudine Schneider
Claudine Schneider is a former Republican U.S. Representative from Rhode Island. She was the first and to date only woman elected to Congress from Rhode Island....
(R-RI), John F. Seiberling
John F. Seiberling
John Frederick Seiberling, Jr. was a United States Representative from Ohio. In 1974, he helped to establish what later became the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and served on the House Judiciary Committee that held the impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.-Biography:Born in Akron,...
(D-OH), Vin Weber
Vin Weber
John Vincent Weber is a former Republican Congressman from Minnesota. Weber attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities from 1970 to 1974. He had been the co-publisher of Murray County newspaper and the president of Weber Publishing Company...
(R-MN), Howard Wolpe
Howard Wolpe
Howard Eliot Wolpe III was a seven-term U.S. Representative from Michigan and Presidential Special Envoy to the African Great Lakes Region in the Clinton Administration, where he led the United States delegation to the Arusha and Lusaka peace talks, which aimed to end civil wars in Burundi and the...
(D-MI), Louis Stokes
Louis Stokes
Louis Stokes is a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States House of Representatives....
(D-OH), Augustus Hawkins (D-CA), John Chafee
John Chafee
John Lester Hubbard Chafee was an American politician. He served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as the Secretary of the Navy, and as a United States Senator.-Early life and family:...
(R-RI), Slade Gorton
Slade Gorton
Thomas Slade Gorton III is an American politician. A Republican, he was a U.S. senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice as an incumbent: in 1986 by Brock Adams, and...
(R-WA), Gary Hart
Gary Hart
Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
(D-CO)
Education
EESI educates policymakers and the public through timely information and innovative policy initiatives in the form of Congressional briefings, publications, task forces and meetings. EESI’s current programs are: EnergyAlternative energy
Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....
& Climate
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
; Sustainable Biomass & Energy, which covers bioenergy
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
, biofuels and biobased products
BIOBASE
BIOBASE is an international bioinformatics company headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. Its focus is on the generation, maintenance and licensing of databases in the field of molecular biology, and their related software platforms.-History:...
from agriculture and forestry; and Transportation & Smart Growth
Smart growth
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
. The Executive Director is Carol Werner.