Year of Energy 2009

Please note that, with the conclusion of the Year of Energy 2009, we are no longer updating this site.
You can read highlights from the Energy Symposium at our 2009 Annual Meeting and International Research Conference here, and view the speakers’ slides here.
Our series of white papers on energy is available here.
Thanks for visiting Sigma Xi’s Year of Energy site!

I’ve been compiling Sigma Xi’s Science in the News newsletters lately, and was struck by the fact that, in the last few days, there have been two articles about Native American objections to emerging sources of energy–in totally different parts of the country, and about totally different sources of energy.

On Sunday, the Washington Post covered the Indigenous Uranium Forum, which took place in New Mexico over the weekend. Attendees opposed renewed uranium mining for nuclear energy, recalling the health problems such mining caused to their communities in the past. Plus there are objections to mining on sacred land.

Over on the East Coast, two tribes are opposing Cape Wind, an offshore windfarm proposed for Nantucket Sound. They say the sound should be listed as a traditional cultural property on the National Register of Historic Places, and that desecrating the site with wind turbines would be detrimental to their spiritual well-being. The Boston Globe had that story.

Send us your solutions! We are now accepting white papers on energy until September 18, 2009. Click here for more information and guidelines. We still need reviewers too… If you’d like to help critique white papers, please contact us. Volunteers will receive a small gift of appreciation and a letter for their CV files.