Hill Heat

05/05/2010 at 10:00AM

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing to examine the potential effects of pending energy and climate legislation on the transportation sector and U.S. dependence on oil. Policies that create a sustained, stable, and predictable price on carbon for transportation fuels have the potential to promote fuel-efficient vehicles, low-carbon fuels, and more energy-efficient transportation decisions by businesses and consumers. However, how such a price is determined, how it is applied, and how generated revenues are used can greatly influence the benefits and costs of such a policy. This briefing will focus on the economic and environmental implications of alternative ways to reduce oil use and greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector and how key stakeholders are likely to respond. Speakers for this event include:

• Dr. David Montgomery, Vice-President, Charles River Associates
• Dr. Chad Stone, Chief Economist, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
• Dr. Adele Morris, Policy Director for Energy and Climate Economics, Brookings Institution
• Dr. David Austin, Senior Economist, Congressional Budget Office
• Jack Basso, Director of Program Finance and Management, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
• James Corless, Director, Transportation for America
• Patrick O’Connor, Legislative Counsel, NAFA Fleet Management Association

Fuel use in the transportation sector is widely regarded to be less sensitive to changes in price, relative to electricity and other sectors of the economy, due in part to limited availability of transportation options and substitutes for petroleum fuels. Recent swings in fuel prices, corresponding demand responses, and other research suggest, however, that modest price signals - especially sustained price signals - can spur investments in clean transportation and create significant benefits for the transportation sector. Options to create a carbon price through a fee on transportation fuels can be designed to be as effective and predictable as other policy options based on tradable allowances. Any revenues generated through such policies can be returned to consumers and businesses, reinvested in transportation infrastructure and advanced vehicle and fuel technology, or directed to a combination of public uses.

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, please contact Jan Mueller at [email protected] or (202) 662-1883.

04/29/2010 at 03:00PM

The effects of climate change and the way we use energy are significant U.S. national security challenges. Addressing them will be increasingly important for our nation’s defense. The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) invites you to attend an event that will examine these critical issues, featuring a keynote address by Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change.

A roundtable discussion among national security experts will follow the keynote address. Experts will address questions including: How will energy and water challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan affect current operations in the region and U.S. military bases around the globe? How will competition for energy, strategic minerals, food, and water affect countries and regions of strategic importance – from Afghanistan to the Arctic, China to Yemen?

This event marks the launch of the groundbreaking CNAS report Broadening Horizons: Climate Change and the U.S. Armed Forces, which examines the dual pressures of climate change and energy on each U.S. military service and regional combatant command. Authors Christine Parthemore; Commander Herb Carmen, USN; and Will Rogers map a road ahead to improve the country’s ability to promote national security in the face of a changing climate.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

• Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

PANEL DISCUSSION

• Dr. David Kilcullen, President and CEO of Caerus
• Rear Admiral Philip Hart Cullom, USN Head of the Navy’s Task Force Energy Director, Fleet Readiness Division on the Navy Staff
• Robert Kaplan, Senior Fellow, CNAS Correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly
• Christine Parthemore, Bacevich Fellow, CNAS

2:30-3:00 p.m.: Check-in and registration
3:00-5:30 p.m.: Event
5:30-7:00 p.m.: Cocktail reception

Location:
The Willard InterContinental Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

04/28/2010 at 03:00PM

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will make a major announcement concerning the Cape Wind project. Credentialed media are invited to attend.

Massachusetts State House
Governor’s Press Room
Room 157
Beacon Hill
Boston

04/28/2010 at 12:00PM

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Steven Chu, Secretary, Department of Energy

Panel 2

• Philip R. Sharp, President, Resources for the Future
• Robert W. Fri, Past President and Visiting Scholar, Resources for the Future
• Dr. Eric P. Loewen, Chief Consulting Engineer, Advanced Plants, Technology, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

04/28/2010 at 10:00AM

The hearing will examine the impact of oil dependence on our economy and national security, and how recent Environmental Protection Agency regulation and future policies can reduce that dependence.

Witnesses

• Lisa Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
• Fred Smith, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FedEx Corporation
• Jason Wolf, Vice President of North America, Better Place
• Robert Diamond, Former Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, Security Fellow, Truman National Security Project
• Charles T. Drevna, President, National Petrochemical and Refiners Association

04/28/2010 at 09:30AM

The “green” technology boom is being heralded as the next technological revolution, able to lower greenhouse gas emissions, promote economic growth and create millions of new jobs. A number of new policies are being adopted at both the national and local levels to foster the growth and adoption of the new green technologies—including production tax credits for solar, wind and geothermal; renewable portfolio standards; and feed-in tariffs, to name a few. Solar energy has benefitted from increased private investment and public subsidies in recent years but seems to remain ever on the edge of breakthrough.

On April 28, the Energy Security Initiative at Brookings will host the first in a series of events that will examine the prospects for these potentially game-changing energy technologies to make the shift from alternative to mainstream. Experts from many sectors will discuss the key political and economical barriers and opportunities for utility-scale solar energy. Two panel discussions will explore a wide range of questions, including: What will it take to grow a viable solar industry in the United States? What policies could move solar energy into more widespread use and achieve grid parity? What are the job implications for the United States if other countries take the lead in developing the technology? And what role is public awareness or a lack thereof playing in solar energy adoption?

After the program, panelists will take audience questions.

Introduction

Charles Ebinger, Senior Fellow and Director, Energy Security Initiative, The Brookings Institution

Keynote Remarks

Stephanie Burns, CEO, Dow Corning

Panel 1: Policy and Economics

• Moderator: Charles Ebinger, Senior Fellow and Director, Energy Security Initiative, The Brookings Institution
• Richard Kauffman, CEO, Good Energies
• Dr. Lola Infante, Director, Generation Fuels and Market Analysis, Edison Electric Institute
• Charles Hemmeline, Market Transformation, Solar Energies, Technology Program, U.S. Department of Energy

Panel 2: Technology, Market Deployment and Job Development

• Moderator: John Banks, Nonresident Fellow, Brookings Institution
• Robert Boehm, Director, Energy Research Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Steve Kalland, Director, North Carolina Solar Center, North Carolina State University

The Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

RSVP

04/28/2010 at 09:00AM

Witnesses Panel I

• Joe Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health

Panel II

• Cecil Roberts , President, United Mine Workers
• Jeff Harris, Mine Worker
• Wes Addington, Deputy Director, Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center
• Bruce Watzman, Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, National Mining Association

Panel III

• David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health

Panel IV

• Peg Seminario, Director of Safety and Health, AFL-CIO
• Holly Shaw
• Dr. Michael Brandt, Board President (2010-2011), American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Kelli Heflin, Coordinator of Regulatory Compliance and Safety Manager, Scott’s Liquid Gold

04/27/2010 at 02:00PM

Witnesses

• Ken Burns, Filmmaker, Florentine Films
• Michael Ward, Superintendent, Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, U.S. National Park Service
• Diane Shober, Travel and Tourism Director for the State of Wyoming
• Will Shafroth, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Scott Bacher, Owner, Carlsbad KOA
• Clyde Butcher, Photographer

04/27/2010 at 10:00AM

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) invite you to a briefing on The Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Policy Options on the U.S. Economy, a new study by CCS that examines the nationwide impacts of 23 major strategies formulated by over 1,500 stake-holders in more than 20 states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve energy and environ-mental co-benefits. At a time of recession and high unemployment, many question putting demands on our economic sectors and fear that increased energy prices will slow the economy and harm jobs. But macro-economic analysis of a diverse set of policies and measures selected and designed by stakeholders in numerous states shows that addressing climate change and promoting energy policy can spur the economy, create jobs, and reduce energy prices. The briefing panel will provide perspectives on local, state and federal program opportunities for economic development and job creation in all sectors.

Speakers for this event include:

• Adam Rose, Economics Professor, School of Policy, Planning and Development (SPPD), University of Southern California
• Jeff Wennberg, Project Manager, Center for Climate Strategies; former Vermont Environment Commissioner and former Mayor of Rutland, Vermont
• Joe Sherrick, Climate Change Program Manager, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
• Tom Peterson, President and CEO, Center for Climate Strategies, Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Global Security Center

More than 30 states have created comprehensive state climate action plans, comprised of balanced portfolios of mitigation measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and saving or diversifying energy within their states. These policies address several sectors of the economy, including energy supply, manufacturing, agriculture, buildings, transportation, and waste management. Many are highly cost effective, save consumers money, and have other co-benefits—such as improving public health or reducing reliance on imported oil. The report looks at recommendations for action at all levels of government under a national policy framework developed by stakeholders through climate planning.

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, contact Laura Parsons at (202) 662-1884 or [email protected].

04/23/2010 at 11:00AM