The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, the Energy & Environmental Systems Institute and the Shell Center for Sustainability at Rice University are co-sponsoring a climate change, politics and economics conference on February 9, 2008.
The conference will bring together leaders committed to educating the public about the impact of global warming and discuss their experiences in crafting public policy in this area. In particular, we will focus on such issues as the economics of climate change, the costs and benefits of mitigation strategies, the role of emerging technologies, and the politics of international, national and subnational response strategies.
Discussion topics include: International Panel on Climate Change 2007 Report and Climate Change Modeling; Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable; Policy Approaches to Limit Carbon; Corporate Green House Gas Policies; Economic Issues of Climate Change Policy; Options for Dealing with Climate Change: Costs & Benefits.
This event represents a collaboration at the Baker Institute between the Science & Technology Policy Program, the Energy Forum, and the Health Economics Program. Support provided by: UK Science & Innovation Section and the British Consulate-General Houston. The conference is hosted by the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, the Energy & Environmental Systems Institute, and the Shell Center for Sustainability.
Click here to see the event program
Event Agenda and Presentations
8:00 am Welcoming Remarks
The Honorable Edward P. Djerejian, Founding Director, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
8:15 am Keynote Address
"The Road from Bali: The Future of American Policy on Global Climate Change"
The Honorable John Kerry, United States Senator from Massachusetts
8:50 am Opening Addresses
Introduction by Neal F. Lane, Ph.D., Senior Fellow in Science and Technology Policy, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, and Malcolm Gillis University Professor, Rice University
"International Panel on Climate Change 2007 Report and Climate Change Modeling"
Timothy L. Killeen, Ph.D., Director, National Center for Atmospheric Research
"Confronting Climate Change: The Sigma Xi/UN Foundation Report"
Rosina M. Bierbaum, Ph.D., Dean and Professor, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan
"How to Avoid Unmanageable Climatic Disruption"
John P. Holdren, Ph.D., Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and Director, Woods Hole Research Center
Break
10:25 am Morning Addresses: Policy Approaches to Limit Carbon
Moderator: Amy Myers Jaffe, Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
"The California Model for Combating Climate Change"
Daniel Sperling, Ph.D., Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy and Founding Director, Institute for Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis
"Cap and Trade Systems: The European Experience"
Milo Sjardin, Head, New Carbon Finance, North America
"A Carbon Tax Swap: An Equitable Tax Reform to Address Global Climate Change"
Gilbert E. Metcalf, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Tufts University
12:00pm Lunch Keynote
Introduction by Paul Lynch, HM Consul-General, British Consulate-General Houston
Introduction by Neal F. Lane, Ph.D., Senior Fellow in Science and Technology Policy, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, and Malcolm Gillis University Professor, Rice University
"A Corporate View of Greenhouse Gas Policies"
Steven E. Koonin, Ph.D., Group Chief Scientist, BP p.l.c.
1:30 pm Afternoon Session I - Economic Issues of Climate Change Policy
Moderator: S. Malcolm Gillis, Ph.D., University Professor, Ervin K. Zingler Professor of Economics and former President, Rice University
"The Economic Impact of Climate Change: The Stern Report"
Dimitri Zenghelis, Head, Stern Review Team, Office of Climate Change, HM Treasury
"Economic Costs of Climate Change"
John P. Weyant, Ph.D., Professor of Management Science and Engineering and Director, Energy Modeling Forum, Stanford University
"Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: At What Cost?"
Scott S. Nyquist, Director, McKinsey & Company
"Global Climate Change Policy and Energy Security: Two Sides of the Same Coin?"
Peter Hartley, Ph.D., Baker Institute Rice Scholar, George and Cynthia Mitchell Chair and Professor of Economics, and Academic Director, Shell Center for Sustainability, Rice University
"Considering Risk and Uncertainty in Designing Climate Change Policy"
Mort Webster, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Break
4:00 pm Afternoon Session II - Options for Dealing with Climate Change: Costs and Benefits
Moderator: Robert Harriss, Ph.D., President and CEO, Houston Advanced Research Center
"Energy Technology and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Mitigation"
James A. Edmonds, Ph.D., Laboratory Fellow and Chief Scientist, Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
"Coal in a Carbon-Constrained World"
Ernest J. Moniz, Ph.D., Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems and Director, MIT Energy Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
"The Solar Grand Plan"
Ken Zweibel, President, PrimeStar Solar
"The Dimensions of the Prize: Leverage Technology to Achieve Sustainable Emissions"
Cal Cooper, Ph.D., Science Fellow, ConocoPhillips Technology
6:00 pm Closing Comments
Introduction by Emil Peña, Executive Director, Energy and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI), Rice University
"Gaining Traction Beyond the Science of Climate Change"
Eric J. Barron, Ph.D., Dean, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin
