Thank you, Ray (Orbach). 

It’s wonderful to see all of you so early in the morning. This reminds me of my days as a teacher, particularly during final exams. I taught Chemical Engineering at MIT years ago. Right before I would hand out the exam, I would look out over the classroom. Some of the students’ faces were filled with dread.

But the best students – their faces were filled with anticipation. They were awaiting the challenge. And I knew they were up to it.

So it seems this morning. As we get ready to kick off the 15^th Science Bowl, I look out at all of you and I see young men and women who are up to the challenge.

You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. So let me congratulate you for even making it this far. That’s quite an achievement. Some 13,000 students from 1,800 all over the country entered this competition, each one hoping to sit where you are now.

You truly represent the best of American science students, and you have every reason to be proud of what you have accomplished to make it this far.

The Science Bowl is one of the Department of Energy’s most important events. 

Not only does this contest highlight America’s academic strength in science – in this case from 40 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia   – it also encourages students around the nation to recognize the value of science education. 

But the Department places a top priority on this competition for another reason.   Our self-interest demands that we help develop scientific talent.

   Let me put it another way:   We can’t survive as an agency, let alone as a nation, without encouraging that inner desire to know what is science.

Unfolding the mysteries of science is one of our core missions.   We take pride in it; it’s one of the main reasons I was so excited when the President asked me to become Secretary of Energy.

We are the third largest funder of basic research in the United States and the largest government sponsor of the physical sciences. 

From discovering the building blocks of life, to understanding ghosts in the atom, we are pushing the envelope of science.   I would like to invite all of you to join us in these adventures.

The Department also directs a national laboratory system that is the envy of the world.   Here the latest computer technology might help us predict weather and climate months or years in advance. 

And these laboratories sponsor college internship programs to help hone the skills of the budding scientist and…I suspect…keep our professional scientists on their toes. 

Keep this program in mind after you’ve graduated from high school.   Our labs need the critical skills you will one day be able to provide.   In fact, in some critical skills areas we are just one engineer or designer deep in our talent pool. 

If we lose just one person at some of our labs, we simply have no easy replacement.   You can help us fill our gaps in engineering and science skills that are necessary for our nation’s security and energy future

Energy and science go together.    One of our major challenges at DOE is to set science against the task of bringing the world a new abundant supply of energy, or finding a radically better way to employ current resources. 

And we are going to look to you to discover that next generation of energy supply that will fuel the world’s economy, light homes, power factories, and move transportation with an energy source that is affordable, clean, and widely available.  

This is not a dream; the next generation of energy is coming.   The only question is when.

Now there is probably no question that we will remain dependent on fossil fuels for at least the next several decades. 

But to assume our dependence on coal, oil, and natural gas will last very much longer than that, is to reject all human experience.

Surely the last one hundred years have brought us more new knowledge than the previous 100 or even 200 years.   And even the last quarter century has accelerated the pace of our learning. 

We overcame the many problems associated with the horse and buggy by inventing the internal combustion engine.

   Why shouldn’t the next 25 or 30 or 40 years set in motion a sequence of innovation and creation that makes our current mix of fuels look as old fashioned as wood burning and whale oil? 

We can do that; I should say you can do that, only if we support science in America.  And only if young students like you have the chance to excel and grow in an atmosphere that is both free and challenging.

It is really hard to put a frame around the idea of a new, clean, and affordable energy supply. The consequences cannot be properly measured. 

From energy independence, to perfectly clean running automobiles, to power plants with a much smaller footprint, to a hydrogen economy, we can anticipate an entirely different world of power production, distribution, and use. 

That is one of the critical tasks we have undertaken at DOE.   It’s a critical task that will require participation by all fields of science and engineering.

But most relevant to this audience, it’s a task that will be accomplished most likely by your generation, not mine.

That is a long way of explaining why we think science, and setting off the spark of interest in science, is so important to us here at the Energy Department. 

Science is not going to stand still.   We intend to help direct the course of science as it moves…very rapidly…into the future. And I really do hope you’ll be a part of it.

One of history’s greatest scientists, Albert Einstein, said “if A is a success in life, then A – or success – equals x plus y plus z. X is work; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.”

I’m going to follow his advice right now … so let me end with this: “A good scientist,” someone said, “is a person in whom the childhood quality of perennial curiosity lingers on. Once he gets an answer, he has other questions.”

There are plenty of questions in store for all of you over the next few days. I have no doubt you are ready. As I said earlier, you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. So good luck.  And I hope – win or lose over the next few days – you have a wonderful time here in Washington. 

Location:
Washington, DC