Sustainable Energy Conference in DC

Longtime readers will be familiar with my research on utilizing the real estate investment trust (REIT) tax structure to facilitate solar development in the U.S. (and elsewhere). My main research on the topic was published in conjunction with the GW Solar Institute, and in a great example of life coming full circle, GW Law has asked me to speak at a conference it is hosting which is running today and tomorrow titled Laying the Foundation for a Sustainable Energy Future: Legal and Policy Challenges. I will be on the early shift tomorrow (8:45) and am sitting on a panel discussing capital deployment. I would strongly encourage anyone who is interested to attend any or all of the conference as there will be a wealth of deeply experienced and knowledgeable speakers and moderators on hand (to the extent that it makes me wonder how I made the cut...). Full details on the conference below:

Laying the Foundation for a Sustainable Energy Future: Legal and Policy Challenges

The 2013 J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Conference
Wednesday and Thursday, April 10 & 11, 2013
The Jacob Burns Moot Court Room
Co-Sponsors: The George Washington University Law School, Husch Blackwell LLP, The Environmental Law Institute, and The Constellation Energy Foundation
This conference – the first of an anticipated series of such meetings exploring the evolution of the U.S. energy networks between now and 2030 – will invite thought leaders to focus on the capital deployment, technology development, and public policy changes that are critically needed to produce a more sustainable energy supply system by 2030. Most importantly, the program is designed, not to generate a "want list" of legal and technological improvements, but to confront the difficult overlap between environmental, energy, national defense, and societal benefit concerns where key decisions must be made in light of highly sensitive trade-offs and accommodations. The program will explore how we might design an improved energy system that is “built to last” and serves the broadest array of public interests – reliability, security, cost, minimal harm to the physical environment, human safety, competition and ease of market entry, technological innovation, equitable burden sharing, regard for intergenerational impacts –while minimizing regional conflicts and short-term “stimulus and response” policies.
Conference Agenda
Registration:
There is a $50 in-person registration fee ($25 for government and non-profit employees) for this course. Fees include continental breakfast, lunch, and breaks.
Please download and return this form to register. Law students and current GWU faculty may register to attend free of charge and should email mcmurrin@eli.org.
Lodging:
We recommend that conference attendees consider staying at The George Washington University Inn or One Washington Circle Hotel, both of which are located within walking distance of the law school. If you need assistance with planning your stay, please contact Jessica Wentz at jwentz@law.gwu.edu.

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Agenda:
Wednesday, April 10
8:15–9 am: Registration
9–9:45 am: Opening Address
Keynote: "Four Faces of Energy Sustainability: Law and Policy"
Byron Dorgan, Former U.S. Senator (D-ND) and Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center
9:45–11:15 am: Panel Discussion One
"Environmental Sustainability"
Moderator: Robert Nordhaus, Professor Lecturer in Law, George Washington University Law School, Van Ness Feldman LLP
Panelists:

• Albert Lin, Professor of Law, UC Davis Law School
• Frank Lindh, General Counsel, California Public Utilities Commission; Adjunct Law Professor, University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and University of San Francisco School of Law
• Carl Zichella, Director for Western Transmission, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Scott Wilensky, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Xcel Energy

11:15–11:30 am: Break
11:30 am–12:45 pm: Panel Discussion Two
"Economic Sustainability"
Moderator: Bob Simon, Former Staff Director, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate
Panelists:

• John Felmy, Chief Economist, American Petroleum Institute
• Paul Allen, Senior Fellow, World Resources
  Institute
• Robert Pojasek, Senior Managing Scientist and Sustainability Lead, Exponent, Inc.

12:45–1 pm: Presentation of the 2013 Jamie Grodsky Prize for Environmental Law Scholarship
1–2:15 pm: Lunch & Presentation
"A European Perspective"
Speaker: Marjan Peeters, Professor of Environmental Policy and Law, Maastricht University in the Netherlands; Guest Researcher, Leuphana University
2:15–3:45 pm: Panel Discussion Three
"Sustainable Energy and National Defense"
Introductions: Ike Skelton, Former Chair, House Armed Services Committee
Moderator: General Robert Flowers, Retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Panelists:

• Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army Installations, Energy & Environment
• General Paul Kern, Chairman, CAN Military Advisory Board, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Hal Perloff, Partner, Husch Blackwell, LLP
• Matthew Carr, Managing Director, Industrial & Environmental Section, Biotechnology Industry Organization
• Christopher Yukins, Co-Director of George Washington Law Government Procurement Law Program

3:45–4 pm: Break
4–5:30 pm: Panel Discussion Four
"Sustainable Societal Benefits and Equities"
Moderator: Betty Ann Kane, Chairman, District of Columbia Public Service Commission
Panelists:

• Sue Kelly, General Counsel, American Public Power Association
• Sonny Popowsky, Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate
• Robert Kenney, Commissioner, Missouri Public Service Commission
• Leslie Fields, Environmental Justice Director, Sierra Club

5:30–7:30 pm: Reception in the Tasher Great Room, hosted by co-sponsor Husch Blackwell LLP

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Thursday, April 11
8:15–8:45: Check-in, Continental Breakfast
8:45–10:15 am: Panel Discussion Five
"Deploying Capital for More Sustainable Results"
Moderator: Donna Attanasio, Former President of the Energy Bar Association, White and Case LLP
Panelists:

• Clay Nesler, Vice President, Global Energy and Sustainability, Legal Fellow, Johnson Control
• Josh Sturtevant, Partner, Distributed Sun
• Jim Goettsch, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
• Skip Grow, Managing Director, Clean Technology Group, Morgan Stanley

10:15–10:30 am: Break
10:30 am–12 pm: Panel Discussion Six
"The Contribution of Technology to Sustainable Energy"
Moderator: Brandon Hofmeister, Assistant Professor of Law, Wayne State University Law School
Panelists:

• Joel Eisen, Professor of Law, Richmond University Law School
• Jeffrey Marqusee, Executive Director of SERDP and ESTCP, Department of Defense
• Revis James, Director of Energy Technology Assessment Center, Electric Power Research Institute
• Jon Freedman, Vice President, Government Affairs & Policy, General Electric Company
• Cheryl Martin, Deputy Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)

12–1 pm: Lunch and Presentation
"A Perspective from China"
Speaker: Ping He, President, International Fund for China's Environment
1–2:30 pm: Panel Discussion Seven
"Federalism in the Context of Sustainable Energy"
Moderator: James Hoecker, Senior Counsel and Energy Strategist, Husch Blackwell LLP
Panelists:

• Steven Ferrey, Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School
• Alexandra Klass, Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
• Rolf Nordstrom, Executive Director, Great Plains Institute
• Suedeen Kelly, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
• Debra Jacobson, Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University Law School

2:30–2:45 pm: Break
2:45–4:15 pm: Panel Discussion Eight
"Averting Unsustainable Energy Development and Facilities Siting"
Moderators: Robert Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro, Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School
Panelists:

• Jessica Owley, Associate Professor, SUNY Buffalo Law School, and Amy Wilson Morris, Associate Environmental Scientist, Aspen Environmental Group
• Liese Dart, Policy Advisor on Wildlife and Clean Energy, The Wilderness Society
• Kalyani Robbins, Associate Professor of Law, University of Akron Law School
• Scott Stewart, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP

4:15–5:30 pm: Panel Discussion Nine: Concluding Dialogue
"The Way Forward"
Moderators: Lee Paddock, Associate Dean for Environmental Legal Studies and Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University Law School
Panelists:

• Charles Berardesco, General Counsel, North American Electric Reliability Corporation
• R. Darryl Banks, Vice President for Energy Policy, Center for American Progress
• Brian Castelli, Executive Vice President, Programs and
  Development, Alliance to Save Energy
• Donald Santa, President and CEO, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America

5:30 pm: Adjourn