By Ann W. Parks

Georgetown Climate Center Faculty Director, Professor Peter Byrne (right) with Commissioner James S. Simpson of the New Jersey Department of Transportation at a panel on transportation and land use on February 25.

Comprehensive climate and energy legislation looks less likely now than it did in 2009, when a significant measure passed the House. But at the Georgetown Climate Center’s two-day conference on “State and Federal Climate and Energy Policy: Where do we go from here” there was plenty to be optimistic about — starting with the Climate Center itself, which co-sponsored the event with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

“At Georgetown, with so much academic strength, one of our gems is our environmental law program,” said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor, who opened the conference February 24 with Climate Center Executive Director Vicki Arroyo (L’94). The Climate Center, which works with the states and the federal government to solve the problems surrounding climate change, also provides students with valuable opportunities to work on energy and environmental issues, Treanor said.

In her keynote address, Pew Center President Eileen Claussen noted the bright spots — including the White House’s commitment to clean energy, business leaders’ support of environmental causes, the states’ roles in taking the lead on these issues, and international initiatives such as the 2010 climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico.

“I won’t promise you a Hollywood ending, but all is not lost,” she said.

Other keynote speakers included Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, who spoke at Thursday night’s dinner at the Hyatt Regency; Bob Perciasepe, deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Roy Kienitz, undersecretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation; and Robert Inglis, a former Republican congressman from South Carolina.

Panels led by Arroyo, Professor Peter Byrne, the Climate Center’s faculty director, and Research Director Kate Zyla and others kept the audience abreast of what federal and state agencies are doing with respect to clean energy, adaptation to climate change, transportation and land use, electric vehicles, wind and solar energy and more. Professor Lisa Heinzerling, who until recently served head of the Office of Policy and Planning at the Environmental Protection Agency, spoke at a pre-conference dinner, and Harrison Institute Fellow Jessica Grannis (LL.M. '11) presented her adaptation work with the Center.

Among the many state leaders participating were alumni Frank Murray Jr. (F'72, L'75), president of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and Deborah Markowitz (L'87), secretary of the Vermont Department of Natural Resources. Many states are leading the way on these issues, even in the absence of comprehensive federal legislation.

"We think there is transformative value in working together…” said Janice Adair of the Washington Department of Ecology. “We can transform our future, and I think that’s where we are headed from here.”

 

February 28, 2011