A Focus On Energy

Few topics unite more disciplines than energy policy, and few are as critically important. Finding and managing sustainable and green energy sources is one of humanity’s most crucial challenges, and one that will only grow more immense with time.

In this endeavor, universities must play a special role. The study of energy blends together topics from global geopolitics and economics to scientific advances and technological development, all of which must work in concert. Universities are uniquely positioned to focus on different fronts and possible solutions to our future energy needs, providing both a holistic approach to the problem and the research firepower to tackle it head on. Harvard in particular, with tremendous strengths in the sciences, the social sciences, and the world of policy, is positioned to play a particularly important part.

In light of this, we welcome Shell’s multimillion-dollar donation to Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (KSG). Staggered over five years and renewable for five more, the $3.75 million gift will be administered by the KSG but will hopefully fund and bring together research on energy policy in disciplines across the university. We hope this donation will prompt Harvard to become the leader in energy research that it can and should be.

In an era of scattered research experts buried in unconnected and fragmented departments and research groups, we hope that Shell’s funds will indeed be used in collaborative and multidisciplinary projects. A model to emulate is the Stem Cell Institute, which successfully integrates scholars and techniques from across the university. In this respect, we hope that the Shell donation will not just be a funding pool that will serve many different needs but that instead it will force people currently separated by institutional boundaries to work together.

The donation is also a milestone for the environmental movement, which is forcing multibillion dollar companies to confront an unpleasant reality from the ground-up. The very source of KSG’s latest donation, Shell, illustrates the transformation of fossil fuel behemoths into supporters of future green energy research. Shell is by no means alone: Other giants like Exxon-Mobil and British Petroleum (BP) have also focused on research on more efficient energy sources and better policies. In fact, for several years now, BP has been cleverly marketing itself as “Beyond Petroleum.”

With a generous gift like Shell’s, Harvard has a great opportunity to focus research on one of the most pressing topics in our world today. We hope that Harvard takes full advantage of this opportunity to tackle the issues of energy security, climate change, and source sustainability from a multidisciplinary perspective and from all corners of the University.