[Note: The statements below are intended solely to stimulate discussion among the Expert community, and do not represent the position of OurEnergyPolicy.org. Text in italics indicates clarification or expansion.]
 

There is a shortage of workers in almost every area of the energy industry. It is the result of neglect since the early eighties and of transfer of critical professions and industries overseas. This is especially critical for battery technology, nuclear and geothermal. We need the people and the talent and we simply don’t have them.

Academic researchers – after the great cutbacks in energy research in the 1980’s, the academic funnel dried up. The number of young researchers is extremely small. We need to increase the number of academics who choose an energy related career path. It takes many years to build a scientific human research base. We don’t have many technological solutions to the energy problems because we don’t have even 10% of the researchers that need to work on it.

We need more nuclear engineers, geologists, hydrologists, reservoir engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, chemists, bioengineers etc. The shortages are critical. Will market forces alone take care of it? Questionable. The competition is global and we will need to import students and keep them here.

Quick work visa procedure for energy workers. We will not be able to educate enough workers to meet our needs. If worker shortage delays our energy policy, we should get expert workers from friendly countries. We also need to make it easy for foreign students who want to stay here to do so, instead of being forced to return to their country. We do not need to import cheap labor and we must be careful to grant visas only to required professions. These employees will be making above average salaries and will be positive contributors to our economy.

The new energy industry can be a growth engine, but it needs the talent and it cannot educate itself. It is a task for the government to effectuate this change.