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PrintTulsan Tony Knowles knows good energy
He leads the National Energy Policy Institute, housed at the University of Tulsa.
When the George Kaiser Family Foundation created the National Energy Policy Institute (NEPI) in 2007, the job of president went to a former Alaska governor with expertise in oil matters.
No, not the rogue one, but Tony Knowles, who was born and raised in Tulsa.
Knowles always had strong ties to oil and “always managed to find a job as a roughnecker somewhere,” he says. He joined the army, served in Vietnam, earned a degree in economics from Yale and worked on Alaska’s North Slope. He also fulfilled his dream of owning his own business, operating four restaurants over 30 years.
Along the way, he became interested in politics, serving two terms as mayor of Anchorage and two more as Alaska’s governor from 1994-2002. Following an unsuccessful Senate race, he ran again for governor, this time losing to former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Most recently, he was considered for a cabinet position.
Knowles still maintains residency in Alaska. NEPI, a nonprofit energy policy organization, is based at The University of Tulsa.
Here, Knowles discusses NEPI’s vision and impact and why Tulsa became the organization’s homebase.
There used to be a saying that our national energy policy was the sum of all lobbyists instead of the sum of our best wisdom. The mission of NEPI is to take a new look at how America can achieve energy independence, and to help establish an energy policy by identifying economic and environmentally sound solutions.
George Kaiser’s vision of a new and rational energy policy is based on the fact that our national security is compromised by our dependence on foreign oil. This has allowed nations who are hostile to our interests to essentially hijack our foreign policy and our economy.
NEPI is looking for the greatest opportunities to increase domestic energy supply, reduce foreign oil and gas demand, and lower carbon emissions with least-cost strategies. Any proposed energy strategies will be scored on two metrics: cost per barrel of imported oil reduced and cost per ton of greenhouse gas reduced. Ranking these strategies will tell NEPI what it will cost us to change direction.
The Phase I report will be released this month. The changes we’ll bring about will be more sustainable and in our control. They’ll make immediate pocketbook sense. A national energy policy for energy independence can produce tangible benefits for the local economy — a catalyst for new energy businesses and high-paying career jobs within the industry.
The University of Tulsa’s role is to help channel industry experts, host conferences, work to facilitate new job and business creation based on results of the NEPI study, and provide an academic component to the NEPI mission. At last year’s first NEPI conference, “Power for the 21st Century — Reinventing America’s Energy Grid,” academics, regulators, legislators and industry experts discussed the incentives and barriers in creating a functioning national grid. The conference showcased exciting new sources of energy important to Oklahoma and America, such as shale natural gas, wind and geothermal heat pumps.
As we, as an economy, adjust to a new energy situation, good things can happen environmentally and economically. New businesses and new jobs can be exciting from Oklahoma’s perspective. Tulsa can play a critical role in the supply and technology transfer, and as a research center for new energy technology partners. These new businesses and job opportunities could make Tulsa not the energy capital of the world again but an energy capital of the world again.
