Hill Heat

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a lunch briefing about the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in improving energy efficiency across all major sectors of the economy. As the Congress seeks solutions to the country’s urgent economic and climate crises, energy efficiency has emerged as a prominent win-win solution. According to the 2008 report Smart 2020, the use of ICT hardware, software, and broadband technologies could reduce global energy use enough to save over $900 billion in costs and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2020. Within the United States, these strategies could save $140-240 billion in costs and reduce emissions by up to 22 percent by 2020. This briefing will explain ICT technologies, outline their impacts on our nation’s energy, climate, and economic objectives, and provide federal policy recommendations for maximizing their deployment and efficacy. Speakers for this event include:

• Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA)
• Stephen Harper, Global Director, Environment and Energy, Intel Corporation; Co-Chair, Digital Energy Solutions Campaign (DESC)
• Rilck Noel, Vice President and Global Managing Director, Verizon Business
• Clay Nesler, Vice President, Global Energy and Sustainability, Johnson Controls, Inc.
• David Rodgers, Director for Strategic Planning and Analysis, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

Energy-saving ICT solutions include the smart grid, smart manufacturing, dynamic building energy management, optimized data centers, smart transportation and telework. The ICT industry is responsible for approximately 2 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, but has the potential to significantly reduce the other 98 percent of emissions. Both the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) and the pending American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 (S. 1462) contain numerous provisions that support the role of ICT solutions in advancing energy efficiency.

• Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
• Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
• Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson
• Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

• Dr. Jim Ball, Senior Director, Climate Campaign, Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN)
• David Waskow, Climate Change Program Director, Oxfam America
• Kenneth P. Green, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
• Peter O’Driscoll, Executive Director, ActionAid USA
• General Charles F. Wald (USAF, Ret.), Former Deputy Commander of United States European Command, Director and Senior Advisor, Aerospace & Defense Industry Deloitte

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on energy and related economic effects of global climate change legislation.

On Wednesday, October 7, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will be joined by Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner and other top Administration officials in hosting a Clean Energy Economy Forum at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with business leaders from around the country. The Administration officials will reiterate the need for a comprehensive energy plan that puts America back in control of its energy future and breaks a dependence on oil that threatens our economy, our environment, and our national security. They will also have the opportunity to answer questions from and get the perspective of business leaders who have first-hand experience creating jobs while contributing to American energy independence.

On September 30th, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) introduced The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. The draft legislation includes access and opportunity in the clean energy-economy, and strong climate standards.

Join us to talk about the bill, and our next steps to get it passed through the Environment and Public Works Committee and the full Senate. Expert speakers will analyze the draft and discuss the significance of two key provisions: the Green Construction Careers Demonstration Project and funding for the Green Jobs Act.

To register for the call, please fill out this form.

Featured Speakers:

• Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Green For All
• Mark Ayers, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department
• Madeline Janis, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
• Jessy Tolkan, Energy Action Coalition

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing about the stockpile of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in old equipment and building infrastructure, and the enormous potential for these potent greenhouse gases to accelerate climate change. These CFC “banks” store the equivalent of 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide, approximately one-third of which will be emitted over the next decade under business as usual. This briefing will explain how CFCs contribute to climate change, opportunities in international treaties and pending federal legislation such as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) to incentivize safe collection and destruction, and the pros and cons of alternative gases.

Speakers for this event include:

• Paul Ashford, Managing Director, Caleb Management Services; Co-Chair, Montreal Protocol Task Force on Ozone Depleting Substances Bank Management
• Jeff Cohen, Senior Vice President of Science and Policy, EOS Climate
• Kevin Fay, President, Alcade & Fay

Decades ago, CFCs were identified as detrimental to the stratospheric ozone and are being effectively phased out by the Clean Air Act and the 1987 international treaty known as the Montreal Protocol. These chemicals are now also known to be greenhouse gases with a global warming potential of up to 11,000 times as strong as carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, millions of products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers and aerosol cans that contain CFCs are still in use around the world and are nearing the end of their usable lives. The next 10-20 years present a unique one-time opportunity to prevent emissions from these products as they are retired and therefore mitigate ozone damage and global climate change.

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, contact Amy Sauer at (202) 662-1892 or asauer@eesi.org.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and Clean Air-Cool Planet, in conjunction with the Royal Norwegian Embassy, invite you to a breakfast briefing to learn about the climate change impacts seen today in the Arctic. Climate change continues to grow as an issue of global concern, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a top priority for the Obama administration. Major international climate negotiations will take place in Copenhagen in December and a debate on comprehensive climate legislation is anticipated in the U.S. Senate this fall. These policy discussions come against a backdrop of rapid and continuing warming of climate in the Arctic as reflected by the shrinkage of the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice, and melting of glaciers and permafrost. At this briefing, top scientists from Norway and the United States will discuss the latest research in this vulnerable region and its implications. Speakers for this event include:

• Nalan Koc, Director, Center for Ice, Climate and Ecosystems (ICE), Norwegian Polar Institute
• Eugenie Euskirchen, Research Assistant Professor, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Bob Corell, Chair, The Climate Action Initiative; Senior Advisor, Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF)

If current greenhouse gas emission trends continue, impacts are expected to become even more visible and intense. Reductions in carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases should serve as the backbone of the global effort to avoid the vast consequences of an even warmer world.

This briefing is free and open to the public. Breakfast will be served. No RSVP required. For more information, contact Laura Parsons at (202) 662-1884 or lparsons@eesi.org.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Environment & Public Works Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Energy & Natural Resources Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will join other Republican senators tomorrow to discuss the national energy tax in the Boxer-Kerry bill.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) Environment & Public Works Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) Energy & Natural Resources Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) Senate Republican Policy Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo.) Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) Senator Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) Other Senate Republicans

U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) will discuss energy transmission issues at the National Press Club on Wednesday, September 30, at 12:00 p.m. Dorgan is the luncheon keynote speaker at The Energy Daily’s Transmission Siting Policy Summit. A question and answer period will follow his remarks.

Dorgan is a senior member of the Senate Energy Committee and Chairman of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. Dorgan helped craft the Energy Committee legislation that includes investments in energy transmission, and expanded production of traditional and renewable sources of energy.

The event is open to the media. Media wishing to attend should RSVP to Teri Fisher, Senior Event & Marketing Manager for The Energy Daily. Phone: 610-696-2484, Cell: 240-793-8344, Email: tfisher@accessintel.com. For more information on the event, go to www.theenergydaily.com/transmission_siting.