A bipartisan cadre of senators are urging the Energy Department to create a joint energy innovation hub between the U.S. and Israel. The center would focus on pushing the envelope on new natural gas development, energy efficiency and renewables.
The senators pressed their concerns in a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, led by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington.
The letter comes as the U.S. undergoes a strategic shift away from dependence on crude oil from Gulf states, as imports from Saudi Arabia and other nations in the region shrink and the U.S. produces more oil from shale.
“As our closest ally in the Middle East, it is in our national strategic interest to work with Israel to promote energy innovation, research and development,” Murkowski said. “We have a long history of working with Israel on energy issues and the establishment of a collaborative center on energy will further the important strides already made in strengthening the bond between our two countries.”
Cantwell reiterated her sentiment, saying, “Establishing a joint center for innovation in areas of mutual interest including clean energy, water efficiency and cybersecurity could not come at a better time, given the rapidly changing global energy landscape.”
The hub was included in a bill that was signed into law in December called the “United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014.” The bill significantly expands energy collaboration and strategic ties between the countries.
The senators are asking Moniz to ramp up a provision of the bill that enables the Energy Department “to establish a joint center that will help deepen the collaboration of energy development,” according to a statement. Murkowski and Cantwell were joined in the letter by Barbara Boxer of California, the ranking Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Republican Susan Collins from Maine and New York Democrat Kristen Gillibrand.
