The Triangle

Issue date: 5/23/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Dave Hernandez New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and State Representative James Roebuck shake hands before a speech for the Eastern Technology Council at Drexel May 19.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called America's dependence on foreign energy the nation's "Achilles heel" and said the next president could take immediate steps to address the environment, during a speech for the Eastern Technology Council at Drexel University May 19.

Price gouging, the strategic oil reserve and fuel efficiency standards were among the policies that the next president could address in the short term, Richardson said.

Richardson added that the lack of an effective energy policy was a national security risk and pointed to his own state-level policy in New Mexico.

Funding public transportation, investing in clean goal, wind and solar energy are among some of the ways Richardson said he has addressed the environment in New Mexico.

One bill, titled "Utility Customer Load Management," focuses utility companies on providing more cost effective and cleaner forms of energy.

"[The bill] directs electric and gas utilities to acquire all cost-effective and achievable energy efficiency resources. The goal is to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020," Richardon's office wrote May 14 in a press release.

As governor, Richardson has embarked on an "aggressive Clean Energy agenda," according to the statement.

Richardson credited Drexel for its efforts in addressing sustainability and said other Universities should get involved.

"I am so proud of the work of our faculty and students. I am confident that Drexel graduates and faculty are, and will be, at the cutting edge of addressing critical issues in energy," Donna Gentile O'Donnell, a University trustee and managing director at the Eastern Technology Council's Philadelphia office, said.

The University has organized a committee of students called "Drexel Green" to analyze Drexel's own impact on the environment.

To further illustrate the University's commitment to sustainability, Drexel Public Safety hybrid vehicles were presented during the event.

After the speech, Richardson joined University President Constantine Papadakis in reviewing energy efficient projects designed by College of Engineering students, including the "DragonWagon," a human-electric hybrid vehicle.

"The DragonWagon is a vehicle with pedals and a motor that can also be run on solar or fuel-cell technology that aims to create low-cost, zero-emissions alternatives to the automobile for use in urban and suburban environments," according to a CoE press release.

The DragonWagon resulted from a senior design project by seniors Raymond Canzanese and Joseph Porcelli, both electrical and computer engineering majors, as well as Jessica Kaestle, Kyungdo Kim, Michael Wigdahl and John Palermo, all mechanical engineering and mechanics majors.

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