Hill Heat

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on engaging the American public to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through people-centered programs and policies. Much of the recent discussion on energy efficiency has focused on technologies. However, rapid and large scale change in energy use will ultimately be determined by the number of people who are engaged and empowered to put those technologies to good use and to redefine their own energy service demands. This briefing will examine how and why people use (or don’t use) energy efficient technologies, describe new initiatives being deployed by the U.S. military, utilities and communities, and discuss the economic and environmental benefits for households, businesses, and the nation.

Speakers

• Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), Chair, Energy and Environment Subcommittee, House Science and Technology Committee
• Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Founder, Community-Based Social Marketing; Author, Fostering Sustainable Behavior; Professor of Psychology, St. Thomas University, Canada
• Gene Rodrigues, Director of Energy Efficiency, Southern California Edison
• Richard Andres, Energy and Environmental Security Chair, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University
• Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, Research Associate, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE); Chair, ACEEE’s 2009 Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference

Studies indicate that although people are often aware of the benefits of using energy more efficiently, a variety of social, cultural, and economic factors often prevent them from doing so. Even when high efficiency technologies have been installed, 30 percent or more of the energy savings that could potentially be realized through such technologies is lost, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). In July 2009, Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) introduced H.R. 3247 to establish a social and behavioral sciences research program at the U.S. Department of Energy.

This briefing is presented in conjunction with the 2009 Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference, in session through November 18 in Washington, D.C. The BECC Conference is co-convened by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center (Stanford University), and the California Institute for Energy and Environment (University of California). More information is available here.

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Dr. Kit Batten, Science Advisor, Office of the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Tom Tidwell, Chief, U.S. Forest Service

Panel 2

• Dr. Beverly Law, Oregon State University
• Dr. Elaine Oneil, University of Washington
• Chris Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Trout Unlimited

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold two public hearings on the proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions thresholds defining when Clean Air Act permits would apply to new or existing industrial facilities. This program would cover nearly 70 percent of the nation’s total GHG emissions from stationary sources. The nation’s largest facilities, including power plants, refineries, and cement production facilities, that emit at least 25,000 tons of GHGs a year would be required to obtain operating and construction permits.

The hearings will be held on November 18 in Arlington, Va. and November 19 in Rosemont, Ill. Both hearings will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 7:00 p.m. local time.

Arlington, Va.
Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
Note: Anyone attending the Arlington hearing will need to bring photo identification.

Please join us at our upcoming Senate briefing, bringing together four prominent scientists and four leading evangelical Christians to share their concerns about climate change. Rarely have these two groups spoken with one voice, but they are coming together with a shared sense of urgency about the profound implications of climate change for human health and for the natural support systems that sustain all life on Earth, and about the political paralysis in Washington on this issue. 



Speakers

• Dr. Eric Chivian, Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School
• Rev. Richard Cizik, President, New Evangelicals
• Dr. Jim McCarthy, Alexander Agassiz Progressor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University
• Rev. Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland Church, Chairman of the Creation Care Advisory Team, National Association of Evangelicals
• Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science, Smithsonian Natural Museum of History
• Rev. Gerald Durley, Senior Pastor, Providence Missionary Baptist Church of Atlanta
• Deborah Fikes, Executive Advisor, World Evangelical Alliance
• Dr. Tom Lovejoy, chief biodiversity adviser to the president of the World Bank, senior adviser to the president of the United Nations Foundation, and president of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment

Witnesses

• Dr. Michael Levi, Council on Foreign Relations
• Nigel Purvis, Climate Advisers
• Karen Harbert, Institute for 21st Century Energy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Taiya Smith, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Jake Colvin, National Foreign Trade Council

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and lead author of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will hold a joint press conference following a meeting on global climate change. They will discuss the steps leading up to December’s international negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark.

CONTACT: Jodi Seth/Whitney Smith, 202-224-4159

Witnesses

• Abraham Breehey, Director, Legislative Affairs, Department of Government Affairs, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers
• Carol Berrigan, Director, Industry Infrastructure, Nuclear Energy Institute
• Kenneth P. Green, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
• Margo Thorning, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, American Council for Capital Formation
• Van Ton-Quinlivan, Director,Workforce Development and Strategic Programs, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Witnesses

• Dr. Ray Kopp, Resources for the Future
• Dr. Ted Gayer, The Brookings Institution
• David Hawkins, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Jonathan Banks, Clean Air Task Force
• Dr. Daniel Sarewitz, Arizona State University

Witnesses

• Dr. Ken Caldeira, Senior Scientist, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Dr. John Shepherd, School of Ocean & Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton
• Lee Lane, Co-director, AEI Geoengineering Project, the American Enterprise Institute
• Dr. James Fleming, Professor and Director of Science, Technology and Society, Colby College
• Dr. Alan Robock, Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University

Attention to U.S. climate legislation is increasing on Capitol Hill. In June of this year, the House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and the Senate is considering a similar proposal by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). With international climate negotiations scheduled in Copenhagen for December, many view U.S. action on this issue as critical to a successful outcome. As a result, the central debate is no longer about the need for action, but about the form our actions will take.

On November 4, the Brookings Institution will host a discussion on a new series of papers on U.S. climate policy design. Each paper tackles a different design topic, but they all share a common set of goals: to acknowledge the complexity inherent in climate policy; to explain the fundamental challenges involved in addressing a particular set of design features; and to suggest a credible path forward, calling attention to tradeoffs where they exist. Panelists will focus on such issues as emissions reduction targets, cost containment measures, oversight of the carbon derivatives market, the allocation of emissions allowances and provisions to mitigate the impacts on trade-exposed industries.

After the panel, participants will take audience questions.

3:30 pm–3:45 am

Welcoming Remarks and Introduction

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

3:45 pm–5:00 pm

Panelists

• Bryan Mignone, Fellow (on leave), The Brookings Institution
• Adele C. Morris, Fellow and Policy Director, Climate and Energy Economics Project, The Brookings Institution
• Carolyn Fischer, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
• Richard Morgenstern, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
• Craig Pirrong, Professor of Finance and Energy Markets Director for the Global Energy Management Institute, Bauer College of Business, University of Houston

To RSVP for this event, please call the Office of Communications at 202.797.6105 or click here.

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