Energy and Climate

Speakers

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  Speaker

  Doug Arent

  Exec. Director, Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

  Douglas J. Arent is the inaugural Executive Director at the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He specializes in strategic planning and financial analysis competencies; clean energy technologies and energy and water issues; and international and governmental policies. In addition to his Joint Institute responsibilities, Arent is an author and expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Renewable Energy and a member of the U.S. Government Review Panel for the IPCC Reports on Climate Change. He is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2008, Arent was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change. Arent is on the Executive Council of the U.S. Association of Energy Economists and a member of the Keystone Energy Board. He is also on the Advisory Board of E+Co, a public-purpose investment company that supports sustainable development across the globe. He also serves on the Chancellor’s Committee on Energy, Environment, and Sustainability Carbon Neutrality Group at the University of Colorado. Arent was the chair of the Quantitative Work Group in support of the Clean and Diversified Energy Advisory Council of the Western Governors’ Association. Prior to his current position, Arent was director of the Strategic Energy Analysis Center at NREL from 2006-2010. Arent has a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an MBA from Regis University, and a Bachelor’s of Science from Harvey Mudd College in California.

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  Speaker

  Heidi Cullen

  CEO, Director of Communications, Research Scientist, and Correspondent, Climate Central

  Dr. Heidi Cullen is a research scientist and correspondent, as well as interim CEO and Director of Communications for Climate Central, a nonprofit group focused on communicating sound information about climate science. Dr. Cullen currently reports on climate for PBS NewsHour, Time.com, and The Weather Channel, and is the author of The Weather of the Future. Before joining Climate Central, Dr. Cullen served as The Weather Channel’s first on-air climate expert and helped create Forecast Earth, the first weekly television series to focus on issues related to climate change and the environment. Prior to that Dr. Cullen worked as a research scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. In 2008, Dr. Cullen was awarded the National Conservationist Award for Science by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Operations Research, and a doctorate in climatology and ocean-atmosphere dynamics from Columbia University.

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  Speaker

  Tom Friedman

  Author and Journalist, The New York Times

  Foreign Affairs columnist for The New York Times, Tom Friedman is the writer the public looks to for the straight talk and reliable information it needs about the world—especially when events seem too menacing to comprehend and policy discussions are clouded in a smokescreen of politics and posturing. Covering many of the monumental stories of recent decades, he has won three Pulitzer Prizes and been called “the country’s best newspaper columnist” by Vanity Fair. His latest book, Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America (September 2008), is a #1 New York Times bestseller. His previous bestseller, The World is Flat, has sold more than two million copies. His other bestsellers include Longitudes and Attitudes: The World in the Age of Terrorism, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, and From Beirut to Jerusalem, which serves as a basic text on the Middle East in colleges and universities nationwide and won the National Book Award. Named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report, Friedman is a frequent guest on programs such as Meet the Press, Morning Joe, and Charlie Rose. His TV documentaries, Searching for the Roots of 9/11, The Other Side of Outsourcing, and Addicted to Oil, have aired on the Discovery Channel.

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  Speaker

  Tom Kalil

  Deputy Director for Policy, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Exec. Office of the President

  Thomas Kalil is currently serving as the Deputy Director for Policy for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Senior Advisor for Science, Technology and Innovation for the National Economic Council. Kalil is on leave from UC Berkeley, where he was Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Science and Technology. In 2007 and 2008, Kalil was the Chair of the Global Health Working Group for the Clinton Global Initiative. Previously, Thomas Kalil served as the Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Technology and Economic Policy, and the Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council. He was the NEC’s “point person” on a wide range of technology and telecommunications issues, such as the liberalization of Cold War export controls, the allocation of spectrum for new wireless services, and investments in upgrading America’s high-tech workforce. He also led a number of White House technology initiatives and was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the G-8 Digital Opportunity Task Force (dot force). Prior to joining the White House, Tom was a trade specialist at the Washington offices of Dewey Ballantine and served as the principal staffer to Gordon Moore in his capacity as Chair of the SIA Technology Committee. Tom received a B.A. in Political Science and International Economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and completed graduate work at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

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  Speaker

  Doug May

  Vice President, Energy, Climate Change and Alternative Feedstocks, The Dow Chemical Company

  Doug May is the Vice President of Energy, Climate Change, and Alternative Feedstocks for The Dow Chemical Company, and is responsible for Dow’s overall Energy portfolio and leads activities related to power, natural gas, alternative feedstocks, steam, and industrial gases. In addition, May has a leading role in the management of Dow’s position and global advocacy activities in the areas of Climate Change and Energy policy. As Vice President of Energy & Climate Change, May works closely with industry, government, communities, and Dow’s customers to identify and develop new solutions to address energy and climate change challenges. May joined Dow in 1989 in the Company’s Commercial Development Program and over the next several years held a variety of assignments including sales, marketing, strategic planning, and business leadership in various Dow businesses including water treatment, Specialty Polymers, Acrylic Monomers, and Chlorinated Organics. In 2008, May was tasked as business representative responsible for driving growth synergies and business integration with the Rohm and Haas acquisition. Doug holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Purdue University. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), a non-profit coalition that promotes energy efficiency worldwide to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment, and greater energy security.

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  Speaker

  Steve Pacala

  Prof., Ecology & Evolutionary Biology; Director, Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton Univ.

  Stephen W. Pacala is the Director of the Princeton Environmental Institute and The Frederick D. Petrie Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. He also co-directs the Carbon Mitigation Initiative, a collaboration among Princeton University, British Petroleum, and the Ford Motor Company to find solutions to the green house warming problem. Professor Pacala has researched a wide variety of ecological and mathematical topics. At Princeton, his work focuses on problems of global change with an emphasis on interactions among the biosphere, greenhouse gases, and climate. He also researches solutions to the climate problem, the dynamics of forests, and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function. Professor Pacala completed an undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in Biology at Stanford University. He has been awarded numerous honors including the David Starr Jordan Prize, the George Mercer Award of the Ecological Society of America, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

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  Speaker

  Arati Prabhakar

  Partner, U.S. Venture Partners

  Arati Prabhakar is a partner at U.S. Venture Partners, where her focus is investing in cleantech and IT startups. She joined USVP in 2001 after 15 years of working with world-class engineers and scientists across many fields to brew new technologies. Arati began her career as a Congressional fellow at the Office of Technology Assessment. She served as a Program Manager and then Director of the Microelectronics Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 1986 to 1993. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Arati Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she led the 3,000-person organization in its work with companies across multiple industries. Arati came to Silicon Valley in 1997 to join Raychem as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. She was subsequently with Interval Research Corporation before joining U.S. Venture Partners. Arati is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Working Group on the Energy Technology Innovation System, as well as a member of the National Academies’ Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) board. Arati received her B.S.E.E. from Texas Tech University and an M.S.E.E. and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology. She is a Fellow of the IEEE.

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  Speaker

  Andrew Revkin

  Author and Journalist, Dot Earth Blog, The New York Times

  Andrew Revkin is one of the most respected and influential journalists covering climate change and other global environmental issues. Building on 25 years of prize-winning work, he now writes the Dot Earth blog for The New York Times. After 15 years at The New York Times, Mr. Revkin recently left his staff position to become the Senior Fellow for Environmental Understanding at Pace University’s Academy for Applied Environmental Studies. Andrew is the author of three books on environmental subjects in addition to countless newspaper and magazine articles. He has received journalism awards from the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Columbia University and has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Pace and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.

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  Speaker

  Jim Rogers

  Chairman, President, and CEO, Duke Energy

  Jim Rogers has been Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Duke Energy since January 2007. He has more than 21 years experience as a utility CEO. He was named President and CEO of Duke Energy following the merger of Duke Energy and Cinergy in April 2006. Before the merger, he served as Cinergy’s Chairman and CEO for more than 11 years. Prior to the formation of Cinergy, he joined PSI Energy in 1988 as the company’s Chairman, President, and CEO. He served as Executive Vice President of interstate pipelines for the Enron Gas Pipeline Group before joining PSI. Before joining Enron Corp., Rogers was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. Before that, he was Deputy General Counsel for litigation and enforcement for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Jan. 5, 2009, edition of Newsweek named Rogers to The Global Elite list, “The 50 Most Powerful People in the World,” saying, “The CEO of Duke Energy could make dreams of renewable power a reality.”

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  Speaker

  Richard Sandor

  Chairman and CEO, Environmental Financial Products LLC and Founder, Chicago Climate Exchange

  Richard L. Sandor, founded what became the Climate Exchange family of companies including: the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the world’s first and North America’s only voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system; the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE), the world’s leading futures exchange for environmental products; and the European Climate Exchange (ECX), Europe’s leading exchange operating in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. Additional global affiliates include the Tianjin Climate Exchange in China. In the early 1970s he served as Vice President and Chief Economist of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). It was at that time that he earned the reputation as the principal architect of the interest-rate futures market. Sandor was honored by the City of Chicago in 1992 for his contribution to the creation of financial futures and his recognition as the “father of financial futures.” Sandor is a research professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Member of the International Advisory Council of Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. Sandor is currently a Director of American Electric Power and a member of the design committee of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

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  Speaker

  Daniel Schrag

  Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology and Director, Harvard University Center for the Environment

  Professor Daniel Schrag is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology and the Director of Harvard University’s Center for the Environment. Professor Schrag studies climate and climate change over the broadest range of Earth history. Currently he is working with economists and engineers on technological approaches to mitigating future climate change. Professor Schrag earned his undergraduate degrees in Geology and Geophysics and Political Science at Yale University, and received his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of California, Berkeley. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2000 and currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

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  Speaker

  Stephen Stokes

  Managing Vice President, Supply Chain Leaders, Gartner Research

  Stephen Stokes is a Managing Vice President in the Supply Chain Leaders group at Gartner Research. He coordinates sustainability and green technology research across supply chain, business strategy, and sustainable technologies and leads an active, growing, and dynamic team of researchers. His primary responsibility involves guiding companies in understanding risks and exploring opportunities presented by the challenges of climate change and sustainability. This theme covers a broad cross-section of issues relating to sustainable business performance, carbon emissions and carbon management, emerging frameworks for sustainable business, and business issues associated with the lowcarbon economic transformation, ranging from energy and emission policy and regulation to market dynamics. Before joining Gartner, Dr. Stokes worked in the resources and mining sector (ironsands, aggregate, water); served as a CEO and Executive Director in a group of companies providing advisory, IT solutions, planning, and carbon management services to business interests and local government in Australasia; and was an academic at Oxford University, where he researched, consulted, and taught at the Environment Change and Management program and other interdisciplinary programs. He currently serves on the Advisory Boards of both the Harvard University Extension Program and the Presidio School of Management.

Schedule

Venues

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  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA

  77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States