MIT Energy Conference Influences National Legislation

A fun note for a Friday: The MIT Energy Conference, which I covered in March here, here, and here was cited by US Senator Jeff Bingaman when he introduced Supply Star Act of 2010, a bill designed to bring about energy-efficiency improvements in supply chains, much like Energy Star has done for appliances.

The Senator indicated that the idea for the bill came from this year's MIT Energy Conference, where he and his staff were particularly influenced by a panel discussion titled, "Supply Chain Energy Use: Exposing Opportunities for Innovation in a Global Economy. (link to video)"

Bingaman specifically mentioned the MIT conference, saying that the hurdles surrounding optimization of supply-chain energy consumption "were discussed in some detail by an expert panel. The hurdles include a lack of information and analysis tools for important parts of far-flung supply chains, which often lie far upstream or downstream (and therefore out of sight) of a particular firm, as well as a lack of leverage with which to drive global suppliers toward more efficient practices."

The bill, Bingaman said, is aimed at helping to address this lack of tools and information.

Kudos to the student organizers of the energy conference for making an impact.

For more information: Student-run MIT Energy Conference influences national legislation