Symposia

Discussion will focus on the threats and opportunities facing us and our strengths and weaknesses in facing that future.  These concurrent sessions will take place Friday, January 27, 2006 from 10:00 am - noon.

1. Decisionmaking in the Real World
How are decisions made about energy systems to develop or use, technologies to deploy, policies to propose?  How are factors such as technology, economics, public concerns balanced? What are the processes and pressures? What are the opportunities for decisions that will improve the sustainability and security of energy production and use?

Moderator:
H. Jeffrey Leonard, President, Global Environment Fund

Discussants:
Patrick Atkins , Director of Environmental Affairs, Alcoa
Michele Blazek, Director of Technology and Environment, AT&T
Lewis Milford , President and Founder, Clean Energy Group (CEG)
Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science and Environment,  New Delhi, India
Timothy Profeta, Director, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University
Patrick Spears, President, Inter-tribal Council on Utility Policy

Moderator:
Mike Telson , Director of National Laboratory Affairs, University of California
 
Discussants:
Melanie Kenderdine, VP, Gas Technology Institute, and former Director DOE Office of Policy
Robert Kripowicz , President, Milestone Consulting, LLC
Patrick Leahy, Acting Director, U.S. Geological Survey 
Richard Meserve , President, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Ari Patrinos, Associate Director, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, DOE Office of Science
Michael Thmoassen, Acting Director, Office of Biological & Environmental Research, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy

3. Assessing Energy Futures
What do the major models say?  Why are the projections so different?  How do decisionmakers use this information? How can better models and scenarios that take advantage of technological changes be developed and used to improve decisionmaking?

Moderator : 
Stephen DeCanio , Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara

Discussants:
Guy Caruso, Administrator, Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy
Chris Flavin, President, Worldwatch Institute
Robert Hirsch, Senior Energy Program Advisor, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)
Michael Totten, Senior Director, Conservation International

Click here for Skip Laitner's Powerpoint presentation entitled "Economic Policy Models and Alternative Future Scenarios" from NCSE's 2005 Conference

Click here for Robert Hirsch's brief paper entitled "Peaking of World Oil Production and the Mitigation Challenge"

 4. Climate Change: Science to Action
In October 2005, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies sponsored a conference Climate Change: Science to Action.  US leaders from science, business and finance, environmentalists and civil society, education, entertainment and advertising, news media, politics, and religion and ethics met to craft a strategy for communicating scientific information about climate change in a way that compels action by society.  Discussants will present the action plan developed at the conference. Societal leaders not present at the conference will respond, initiating a dialogue that will involve all present at this symposium.

Moderator: 
Dan Abbasi, Associate Dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Presenters:
Richard Cizik, Vice President for Governmental Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals
Robert Edgar ,  General Secretary, National Council on Churches
David Elisco, Vice President Creative Affairs, Sea Studio Foundation
Richard Somerville, Distinguisted Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Timothy Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation; Former U.S. Senator, 1987-1993

Respondents:
Rick Piltz, Founder and Director, Climate Science Watch
Gordon Slack , Director of Energy Programs, Dow Chemical
Jim Yienger , Director, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)

          Click Here for more information on the Yale Conference on Climate Change
          Click Here for Background Information and Charge to the Working Groups
          Click here to view "Toward a Second U.S. National Climate Change Assessment," by Rick Piltz (pdf)

5. Integrating Discoveries from Other Scientific Fields (Nano, Bio, Micro, Cogno, Info, Social) into Energy Science and Technology
Scientific discoveries in non-energy fields have great potential for potential for transforming the future use of energy. This symposium will explore contributions from fields such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, cognitive science, information technology, sensor development, microbiology and social sciences that may be applicable to energy. Leading researchers and thinkers will describe advances in these fields and potential applications to energy. All present will discuss how to provide better connections between these sciences and traditional energy research and development.

Moderator:
Tina Kaarsberg, Office of Policy & International Affairs, US Department of Energy (DOE)

Discussants:
Marilyn Brown, Interim Director, Engineering Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Patricia M. Dehmer, Director, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy
Willett Kempton,  Senior Policy Scientist, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware
Bruce Logan, Director, H2E Center & Engineering Environmental Institute, Penn State University

Click here for an agenda for "Integrating Discoveries from Other Scientific Fields into Energy Science and Technology

Click here for more information on Microbial Fuel Cell Research, as presented by Bruce Logan