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Energy Crossroads is now a global movement with coalition members in China, Denmark, India, Singapore, Sweden, and the US.

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Stanford 2008 Partners

From Vision to Action: Sparking Global Change - Agenda

Wednesday, April 30th

7pm

Keynote Address – Cathy Zoi

CEO of The Alliance For Climate Protection

  • Cathy will discuss the $300 million "We Can Solve It" media campaign, which just launched in April 2008, that Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection is running.

Location: Kresge Auditorium


Thursday, May 1st

10am – 12pm

Intimate Workshops and Roundtable Discussions

Sponsored by MAP

Location: Old Union


Confirmed speakers:

11am – 2pm

Clean Energy Expo

Location: White Plaza


1 – 2:15pm

Panel: “Private Influence on Public Thought: How Business Can Drive Social Currents”

Location: Memorial Auditorium


  • Part of the energy solution is encapsulated in the business community. The question everyone is struggling with is "how much and in what capacity" will businesses be involved with the social, technological, and political changes that will change our energy future? This panel brings leaders from many aspects of the corporate sector: venture capital, entrepreneurship, big energy, media, and non-profit research, development, and consultation. In different ways, these leaders touch a large cross-section of the American public and the world. In this panel, they will discuss the role of the business sector in affecting public sentiment: do businesses meet demand, or can they have a role in creating demand? The panelists will also address the difficulties and limitations of being a progressive thinker in this field, and how their companies and industries are working through these issues.

Moderator:


Panelists:

  • Elizabeth Cheney – VP Corporate Support, Shell Exploration and Production
  • Ben Schwegler – Chief Scientist and VP, Walt Disney Imagineering R&D
  • Dan Whaley – CEO and founder, Climos, Inc.
  • Ellen Petrill – Director, Public/Private Partnerships, Electric Power Research Institute
2:30 – 3:30pm

Keynote Address – Michael Shellenberger

Location: Memorial Auditorium

Co-author of Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility, and co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute.

  • Michael will discuss Overcoming the Global Warming Technology Gap, ideas that he and co-author Ted Nordhaus brought to light in their award-winning 2007 book Break Through, and are continuing to investigate at the Breakthrough Institute.


3:30 – 4pm

Break

Refreshments will be provided.


4 – 5:15pm

Panel: “Alternative Paths: The Existence or Myth of Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries”

Location: Memorial Auditorium


  • As developing countries are beginning to lift their economies and raise their living standard, they face an apparent choice between "clean" energy and "cheap" energy. Our panelists will discuss if these are exclusive choices, or if there is a compromise that will lead to sustainable, cleaner growth for the world's inhabitants. Our panel consists of experts on China, India, and the Middle East, a leading researcher in the field of renewable energy and development in Africa, and the director of an institute responsible for increasing discussion between climate experts and the public. They will discuss the often-discussed gulf between the world's need for clean energy and the world's need to lift its inhabitants out of poverty, and shed light on whether or not this is a reasonable picture of the situation. Can sustainable growth happen in developing countries? How do we weigh the needs of today against the needs of tomorrow? What are the solutions that are tangible and palatable?

Moderator:

  • Stephen Schneider - Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at Stanford University

Panelists: