The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a
briefing series on strategies, policies, and programs preparing
communities around the country for four major climate threats: polar
vortices, sea level rise, wildfires, and extreme heat. Experts and
practitioners will highlight the unique challenges these climate threats
present along with strategies to overcome them.
The polar vortex is an area of low-pressure, frigid air that usually
exists around the North Pole. The polar vortex is held in place by the
Earth’s rotation and temperature differences between the Arctic and
mid-latitudes. Changes in temperature differences can make the polar
vortex expand to more southern latitudes. While this phenomenon occurs
naturally, climate change is expected to impact the frequency and
severity of polar vortex events. Communities must consider adaptation
strategies to avoid blackouts and improve overall home energy
efficiency, as loss of power when temperatures are so low can become
deadly—246 people died during the Texas polar vortex freeze in 2021,
many from hypothermia.
Panelists will discuss the science behind the polar vortex and how the
energy grid and other critical infrastructure can be made resilient to
this threat.
Speakers
Jennifer Francis, Acting Deputy Director and Senior Scientist,
Woodwell Climate Research Center
Megan Levy, Resilience Strategist & Energy Assurance Coordinator,
Office of Energy Innovation, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Michael Gartman, Manager, Carbon-Free Buildings,
RMI
Ceres will host a
briefing
with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler about the
SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rule.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just released a
proposed rule requiring climate disclosure from all U.S. public
companies, called the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related
Disclosures for Investors. Public comments will be accepted until at
minimum, May 20.
The mission of the SEC is to protect
investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate
capital formation. With this proposed rule, the
SEC is responding to the need by investors for
clear, consistent and comparable reporting from companies to produce
useful investment insights and ensure financial markets can properly
price and act on the physical and transitional risks and opportunities
of climate change.
Participants will:
Hear keynote remarks from SEC Chair Gary
Gensler
Gain insight from Ceres’ high-level summary of the rule
Listen to reactions of the rule from a panel of distinguished
investors
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group
III report underscores the urgency for rapid,
deep and sustained cuts to greenhouse gases for the world to have a
chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F). This
seminal report offers new insights on possible pathways for
policymakers, business leaders and others to ramp up their efforts to
tackle the climate crisis at the scale and urgency required.
Join World Resources Institute experts and
IPCC authors on April
12
for an overview of the IPCC report and learn
about the transformative actions across sectors (including energy,
transportation, food, forests and much more) needed to curb greenhouse
gas emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This event will be hosted in English with simultaneous interpretation in
French and Spanish.
Speakers
Chukwumerije Okereke, Director, Centre for Climate Change and
Development, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Nigeria;
IPCC Coordinating Lead Author
Taryn Fransen, Senior Fellow, Climate, World Resources Institute
Craig Hanson, Vice President for Food, Forest, Water & the Ocean,
World Resources Institute
Jennifer Layke, Global Director, Energy, World Resources Institute
Preety Bhandari, Senior Advisor, Global Climate Program and the
Finance Center, World Resources Institute (Moderator);
IPCC Lead Author
On April 9th we will engage in a mass, nonviolent
direct action at the power plant
that burns all of Senator Joe Manchin’s fossil fuel – where he earns
$500,000 per year while killing climate legislation.
Through a large-scale act of civil disobedience that “breaks through”
the noise and the social media clutter, we can not just move one
specific player, but shake the ground on which the game is played. We
can help elevate climate change to the center of the domestic agenda –
and make this crisis impossible for the White House and Congress to
ignore.
We chose the Grant Town Power Plant specifically because we need the
world to know how corrupt Joe Manchin is. He is not some thoughtful,
grandfatherly, moderate. He is raking in $500,000 per year from his coal
company while single-handedly gutting climate legislation. He also
directed his appointees to raise electricity rates on us working-class
West Virginians in order to keep his coal business afloat.
The purpose of the
hearing
is to discuss the scope and scale of critical mineral demand and
recycling of critical minerals.
Witnesses
David Howell, Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director Office of
Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, Director, Vehicle Technologies
Office, U.S. Department of Energy
Joe Britton, Executive Director, Zero Emission Transportation
Association
R. Scott Forney III, President, General
Atomics, Electromagnetic Systems Group
J.B. Straubel, Founder and CEO, Redwood
Materials
Dr. Duncan Robert Wood, Vice President, Strategy & New Initiatives
Sylvia R.
Garcia
(D-Texas), in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s State
and Tribal Assistance Grants Programs
H. Morgan
Griffith
(R-W.V.), in support of the Abandoned Mine Land Economic
Revitalization (AMLER) Program
Aumua Amata Coleman
Radewagen
(D-American Samoa) in support of an increase for the American Samoan
operations account at the Department of Interior Office of Insular
Affairs
Kim
Schrier
(D-Wash.) in support of the State and Volunteer Fire Capacity Programs
House Appropriations Committee
Senate Appropriations Committee
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
This
hearing
will explore how investments in energy efficiency can save Americans
money, reduce carbon emissions, and promote energy security.
Witnesses
Paula R. Glover, President, Alliance to Save Energy. Glover leads a
diverse coalition of stakeholders to find lasting, consensus-based
energy efficiency solutions. She has helped the Alliance secure
billions of dollars in federal funding for energy efficiency programs,
amplified its work on energy justice, and worked to advance the next
generation of technologies. Glover previously served as the President
and CEO of the American Association of
Blacks in Energy.
Darnell Johnson, CEO and President, Urban
Efficiency Group (UEG). Johnson leads Illinois’ first native,
minority-owned utility implementation and sustainability design firm.
His work with UEG has assisted thousands of
underserved residents in Northwest Indiana, the greater Chicagoland,
and Milwaukee to reduce their energy burden by delivering energy
efficiency and community sustainability services while working toward
carbon neutrality.
Sara Baldwin, Director of Electrification Policy, Energy Innovation.
Baldwin leads the firm’s electrification policy practice area,
providing research and analysis on the pathways to electrify and
decarbonize buildings, transportation, and industry. Before joining
Energy Innovation, Baldwin served as V.P. of Regulatory for the
Interstate Renewable Energy Council and as a Senior Policy Associate
for Utah Clean Energy.
Dave Schryver, President & CEO, American
Public Gas Association (APGA). Schryver leads
APGA’s work to represent the interests of
America’s publicly owned natural gas local distribution companies
before Congress, federal agencies, and other energy-related
stakeholders. He previously worked for the American Public Power
Association and managed the Government Affairs Department for Colorado
Springs Utilities.
On April 9th