The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Energy Policy

About the Conference

The CSIS Energy & National Security Program and Van Ness Feldman are pleased to announce a conference on the history of vehicle efficiency standards and electricity regulation in honor of the late Robert Nordhaus. This program looks at the evolution of two policy areas in which Bob made an important mark, and which raise issues of great significance today.
 

About Robert Nordhaus

As a Legislative Counsel in the House of Representatives, Bob Nordhaus drafted the 1975 legislation that established the first fuel economy standards; major sections of the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments, including Section 111(d); and key provisions in the Federal Power Act. He went on to become the first General Counsel of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 1977 and later served as General Counsel of the Department of Energy during the Clinton Administration. Nordhaus also was a successful and highly influential lawyer in private practice at the law firm Van Ness Feldman.

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Agenda

12:30 pm | Arrival and Lunch

 

12:45 pm | Welcome & Introduction

 

1:00pm | Vehicles Efficiency and Emissions Control Standards

First enacted in 1975, Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards were designed to improve the fuel efficiency of cars and light duty vehicles. After the collapse of the U.S. auto industry following the financial crisis of 2008, the Obama Administration, the State of California, and industry leaders forged an agreement on joint fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards - subject to a "mid-term" review in 2018. The Trump Administration has recently pledged to use this mid-term review to ensure that the standards do not unnecessarily constrain the creation of U.S. jobs or raise other issues.

This panel will discuss the original as well as the more contemporary purpose of having fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for vehicles. The panel will also offer their views on how useful or successful the standards have been and their ideas about how and whether the program can be designed to better achieve its stated objectives.
 

Phil Sharp
Former Member of Congress;
Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy; and
Adjunct Faculty, Georgetown University

David Schwietert
Executive Vice President, Federal Government Affairs
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
 
Megan Ceronsky
Former Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel to President Barack Obama
Executive Office of the President
 
Adam Sieminski
James R. Schlesinger Chair for Energy and Geopolitics
 

3:00pm | Electricity in Transition

The electric power sector continues to experience rapid and transformative change driven by technology, consumer choice, market conditions, and public policy choices. While efforts to decarbonize the electric power sector through the Clean Power Plan under the Clean Air Act receive a great deal of attention in recent years, new issues are rising to the fore. These issues include: integration of distributed generation, the interests of major corporate electricity purchasers, the impact of intermittent resources on resource adequacy and reliability, and the dividing line between state and federal market regulators.

This panel will discuss the changes underway in the electric power sector with an eye toward past periods of reform and change and lessons that can be drawn from those experiences. The panel will also address some of the major issues facing the sector today and posit some views on what to be done about them.
 

Joe Kelliher
Former FERC Chairman; and
Executive Vice President, NextEra Energy, Inc.

Anthony Clark
Former FERC Commissioner; and
Senior Advisor, Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer LLP

Doug Smith
Partner, Van Ness Feldman LLP

Michelle Patron
Director of Sustainability Policy, Microsoft

Emily Sanford Fisher
Vice President, Legal & Corporate Secretary, Edison Electric Institute
 

4:30pm | Reception

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This event is made possible by general funding to CSIS and the Energy & National Security Program and in partnership with Van Ness Feldman.