Students attending the summit will complete a 10-15 page paper addressing two of the aspects below (political, economic, etc.) for one of the three wedges outlined in the Issues Discussion.  Each student will be part of a research "group" who are collectively studying all aspects of one particular wedge.  Research will be shared at the summit through presentations within these groups.

1. Increase the average fuel efficiency of every vehicle in the United States to 60 mpg
2. Implement the best known energy efficiency practices in every residential, commercial and government building in the U.S.
3. Double the efficiency of every coal-fired power plant in the U.S., or halve the greenhouse gas emissions from every coal-fired power plant.  

They will post research online in the "View Student Research" section of the forum on this website. Once at the summit, participants will share the results of their collective research and discuss their recommendations from the perspectives of their assigned stakeholders.  

All of the people attending this Summit are leaders in their respective fields and are being asked to address the following challenge:

What should be done, and by whom, to bring about the changes necessary to significantly reduce the use of energy by the U.S. in buildings, transport and electricity that will lead to a considerable reduction in carbon emissions? Participants should consider three time frames: near-term (3-7 years), mid-term (10-20 years), and long term (up to 50 years). They should analyze the political, economic, social equity, environmental, technical and legal aspects of each.

Specifically, students should answer the following:

1) Education. In theory, energy efficiency is “free,” yet often not implemented because of lack of knowledge. Helping people understand and control energy use is a big challenge.
• How will higher education institutions play a role in promoting energy efficiency?
• How will K-12 schools play a role in promoting energy efficiency?
• How will consumers/citizens be empowered to take charge of their energy consumption?

2) Economic. Implementation of certain technologies may have long-term savings, but short-term costs.
• Who will bear up front costs?
• What incentives should be used to motivate consumers to support various energy efficiency options, and to encourage their adaptation? Are revisions to the tax code required?
• What investments should be made in energy efficiency research and development?
• What investment should be made in workforce development in terms of green collar jobs? What are the long-term impacts on employment and job creation?

3) Social Equity. Must everyone have equal access to energy efficiency opportunities?
• Will technologies be available to everyone, or will some options only be available in concentrated urban areas?
• Will new technologies have new waste streams (like mercury from CFLs) that might affect some communities more than others?

4) Technical. Many improvements are available currently, others are close to deployment, and still others are in more nascent research stages. • What are current technology constraints?
• How should progress be measured? Should it be greenhouse gas emissions prevented, dollars saved, jobs created, or something else? Who should be responsible for measuring progress?

5) Legal. Congress enacts legislation and the US Environmental Protection Agency and state environmental agencies create their own regulations to limit some activities and encourage others. What existing legal and regulatory issues affect the deployment of energy efficiency? (See the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and the Executive Order signed by President Obama on Jan. 26, 2009).
• Should standards be enacted?
• Should standards take regional differences into account? If so, what level of specificity is optimal? City? County? State? Region? Nationwide?
• Should efforts seek systemic improvements (i.e., across all energy consumption in a state or region), or be specific to types of energy consumption (e.g., appliances, heating and cooling, etc.)?

6) Environmental. What are the environmental impacts of these various choices? (e.g., use of materials, potential affects from carbon sequestration, impacts on wildlife from siting new facilities, etc.) What mechanisms will be developed that will help people understand their impact on the environment and their opportunities to reduce energy use?