News Release

IEEE Members Head to Capitol Hill to Promote Energy Legislation

WASHINGTON (8 June 2009) — About 40 IEEE energy experts will meet with their congressional representatives on 16 June to urge enactment of energy policies to address our nation's security, prosperity and environmental quality.

This is the first fly-in sponsored by IEEE-USA to specifically focus on energy legislation. Prior to visiting Congress, participants will be briefed on the latest legislative proposals.

IEEE-USA President Gordon Day said, "Decisions made on energy policy are central to our nation's prosperity and security, and will have an enormous impact on our environment. IEEE counts thousands of energy experts among its members."

IEEE members will be armed with the "National Energy Policy Recommendations" released by IEEE-USA earlier this year. The recommendations assert that the United States can break its addiction to oil and mitigate climate change by increasing energy efficiency, electrifying transportation, greening the energy supply and building a modern electric grid. See http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/positions/energypolicy.pdf.

Members will also share recommendations developed by the IEEE Power and Energy Society addressing concerns about the U.S. power and energy engineering workforce:
http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_pes/pes/subpages/pescareers-folder/workforce/US_Power-Energy_Collaborative_Action_Plan_April_2009_Adobe7.pdf.

For more information on the IEEE-USA Energy Fly-In, see http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/energy-flyin/default.asp.

IEEE-USA advances the public good and promotes the careers and public policy interests of more than 210,000 engineers, scientists and allied professionals who are U.S. members of IEEE. IEEE-USA is part of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional society with 375,000 members in 160 countries. See http://www.ieeeusa.org.

Contact: Chris McManes
IEEE-USA Public Relations Manager
Phone: 1 202 530 8356
E-mail: c.mcmanes@ieee.org

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