Conference Agenda:

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM Breakfast

9:00 AM - 9:10 AM Opening Remarks

• Rob Atkinson, President, ITIF

9:10 AM - 9:25 AM Opening Keynote 

• Arun Majumdar, Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM The Clean Energy: Crises, Cost Curves, and Capabilities

Leading experts will address three pressing issues: the unsustainable nature of current mechanisms for supporting clean energy and the looming crash of the clean economy; the current state of existing clean technologies and their cost disparities of fossil fuels; and the need for clean energy solutions that lead to reduced consumption and improved capabilities for the Department of Defense.

• Tonio Buonassisi, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
• Devon Swezey, Project Director, the Breakthrough Institute
• Vice Admiral Dennis V. McGinn (USN, Retired), President, the American Council on Renewable Energy
• Marc Gunther, Fortune Magazine, Moderator
  

10:45 AM - 11:50 AM Clean Energy Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels: How Do We Do It?

The panel will provide a framework for understanding how policy can drive innovation to make clean energy cheaper than fossil fuels. It will start with a discussion of how not to do it—for instance, why prices and caps are insufficient. It will take a look at the pieces of an energy innovation ecosystem, and identify ways policy can support innovation from basic R&D through to commercialization and deployment.

• Matt Hourihan, Clean Energy Policy Analyst, ITIF
• Letha Tawney, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute
• Nate Gorence, Associate Director for Energy Innovation, the Bipartisan Policy Center
• Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Director, Department of Energy SunShot Initiative
• Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic, Moderator

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Lunch and Keynote Presentation

• Senator Mark Udall (D-CO)

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Looking Beyond the Horizon: Driving Technological Breakthroughs

This panel will highlight the importance of potentially game-changing work being done at the frontiers of energy technology. Leading experts in fundamental research, technology transfer, and technological scale-up will take us through the important role each needs to play—and discuss how policy can help new technologies deliver on their promise.

• Ilan Gur, Senior Advisor for Commercialization, ARPA-E 
  
• Sam Thernstrom, Senior Climate Policy Advisor, Clean Air Task Force
• Mike Schwenk, Vice President and Director of Commercial Partnerships, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/Battelle
• Bryan Walsh, TIME Magazine, Moderator

2:00 PM - 3:15 PM Smart Energy Policies: Driving Innovation in a Time of Budget Austerity

A panel of policy and political experts will take the conversation into even greater depth, exploring particular policy areas and issues. Topics will include state activities to drive innovation in the clean economy; defense initiatives to accelerate their own clean transition; and other actionable recommendations.

• Lew Milford, President, Clean Energy Group
• Travis Doom, Program Assistant, Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes
• Peter Rothstein, President, New England Clean Energy Council
• Jesse Jenkins, Director of Energy and Climate Policy, the Breakthrough Institute
• Coral Davenport, National Journal, Moderator

3:30 PM – 4:15 PM: China and Clean Energy Innovation: Trade War, Technology Partner or Both?

China has become one of the top discussion topics among U.S. energy policy experts for its significant clean energy investments compared to the United States, but also its use of “green mercantilist” practices to gain greater market share.  Most recently, this issue has peaked due to their growing lead in manufacturing solar technologies and U.S. trade complaints. This panel will discuss the implications of China’s clean energy strategy, the impact of Chinese “green mercantilist” practices on innovation, and potential role China could play in developing and commercializing innovative clean energy technologies globally.

• Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
• Armond Cohen, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Clean Air Task Force
• Jayme White, Staff Director, Senate Finance Subcommittee on Trade
• Bruce Stokes, Senior Transatlantic Fellow for Economics, The German Marshall Fund, Moderator

4:15 PM - 4:45 PM Innovation and Environmentalism: Finding Common Ground

Turning from policy to politics, this discussion between leading experts will address the subtle but important differences between the pro-innovation movement and the traditional environmental movement, with its emphasis on carbon caps and regulations. The discussion will seek an answer to a simple but vital question: will these differences persist, or can the clean energy movement present a united front?

• David Goldston, Director of Government Relations, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Josh Freed, Vice President for Clean Energy, Third Way
• Monica Trauzzi, Managing Editor and Host, E&ETV, Moderator