For several years now, various agencies of the US government have been sponsoring a monthly evening lecture series on energy issues: The Energy Conversation. Held in Crystal City, Virginia, these lectures (conversations?) bring together an eclectic mix of people who generally share a passion about one issue: concerns about the US approach to energy and a desire to see a shift toward more sensible approach toward energy within the United States (and globally).
This Monday’s talk, Gigawatt Renewables with a presentation by John Mizroch, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy.
Even if you can’t make it in person, one value is that there is an archive of past speakers (not all there, but being filled in) that have included John Marburger (President Bush’s Science Advisor), Amory Lovins (Rocky Mountain Institute), US Department of Defense experts in facilities’ energy efficiency and energy management, ‘green’ architect Bob Fox, a facilities executive from Walmart, the Director of the Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems to speak about the future of America’s water supplies, etc …
The last talk was from Lester Brown (register for this free event, $10 for dinner) whose resume and background are too much for a single post. Founder of Worldwatch Insitute, founder/president of the Earth Policy Institute, author/co-author of 50 plus books, etc … In 2006, he published Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. This year, he has upgraded to 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization from which the talk was based.
Sitting down for these “lectures” (at round tables, normally, to facilitate conversations rather than passive listening) is somewhat different than at many other professional events. Beside you, on one side, might be an officer from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and, on the other side, an activist from an environmental organization. Others at your table might include an executive from a renewable energy technology firm and someone from the oil industry … The eclectic nature of attendess (of participants) promotes an interaction, an Energy Conversation if you will, that might not occur otherwise.