Energy & Environment: New America Events

Energy Security for American Families

Communications — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/24/2008 - 12:15pm

On September 24, 2008, the New America Foundation’s Next Social Contract Initiative and Economic Growth Program hosted a panel discussion about the latest proposal in New America’s “Big Ideas” series: NAF Irvine Fellow Lisa Margonelli’s “Energy Security for American Families Initiative” (ESAF). New America’s Frank Micciche moderated the panel, which also included Dr. Mark Cooper, Research Director of the Consumer Federation of America; Therese Langer, Transportation Program Director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy; and David Manning, Executive VP for US External Affairs at National Grid.

Margonelli pointedly outlined the economic squeeze that moderate-income families face because of rising energy prices, and criticized conventional fixes such as a gas tax holiday or simple tax credits as distortionary and ineffective in stimulating the economy. ESAF would instead put in place policies that actively invest in energy efficiency: vouchers and low-interest loans to purchase energy-efficient vehicles; incentives to car dealerships that stock energy-efficient models; vouchers for home weatherization and Energy Star appliances; and tax incentives for carpooling and vanpooling. These measures, according to Margonelli, will save money, increase domestic investment, lower pollution and carbon emissions, and offer the public a politically-favorable response to high gas prices.

Dr. Cooper broadly agreed with the contours of Margonelli’s plan. Cooper emphasized that tackling household energy consumption is crucial to solving both the energy and housing crises. He stressed the importance of incentivizing individual consumers’ decision-making. Approaching the issues from the broader perspectives of land-use and development density, Dr. Langer also found much to recommend in the ESAF plan, and offered some additional policy recommendations: location-efficient mortgages, for example, and new transportation pricing measures such as “pay-as-you-drive” car insurance.

Finally, David Manning detailed the efforts that National Grid has taken to help consumers reduce their demand for energy. He noted that utilities currently have no profit incentive to promote conservation, as they earn revenue based on their customers’ level of consumption. Manning suggested a new utility pricing system that de-couples the “throughput” of energy from the volume utilized. Under such a system, utilities would receive a flat per-customer rate for providing service, with discounts for efficiency gains and decreases in energy usage. A free-wheeling question-and-answer session concluded the event.

-Daniel Mandel, Research Associate for the Next Social Contract Initiative

CA Event: From Pluribus to Unum

Communications — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:45:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/25/2008 - 12:00pm

Though the southern border tends to be a focal point for debates about immigration, the anxiety that many Americans express is really about whether integration happens after people have crossed our country's borders. The question of immigrant integration is nowhere more relevant than in California, where more than one in four residents is foreign born.

On Friday July 25th, Dr. Tomás Jiménez will discuss the state of immigrant integration amongst California's newcomers and their descendents. He will look at the roles of the education system and immigration status in integrating immigrants, while detailing the importance of integration to California's prosperity. Jiménez will also provide suggestions for better integrating the state's newcomers.

CA Event: Climate Change Solutions

Communications — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:51:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/17/2008 - 12:00pm

The G-8 recently endorsed cutting global emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2050 and called for nations around the world to set midterm reduction targets. What role do U.S. states play in this process and what steps should they take?

New America Climate Policy Director Terry Tamminen and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger David Crane will give an overview of state and federal policies to date, while discussing the steps that California and other states can take to lead the world in a climate change solution in the post-Kyoto timeframe. They will also discuss how companies are responding to climate regulation and the opportunities provided by cleantech. Join us for an engaging discussion of climate policy and the opportunities it may provide for our economy.

Clash or Cooperation? The Chinese Climate Change Dilemma

Communications — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
06/26/2008 - 12:15pm

On June 26 The New America Foundation's American Strategy Program and the Heinrich Böll Foundation hosted Reinhard Bütikofer, the leader of Germany's Green Party, for a discussion about possibilities of cooperation with China over the issue of climate change. Steve Clemons, the director of the American Strategy Program, moderated the discussion. An MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below, while video is available at right.

Bütikofer began by detailing the importance for Europe of involving China in projects to control climate change; they are the world's biggest CO2 emitter, and he stated that the United States would be unlikely to support a climate change regime that did not also apply to Russia and rapidly developing countries such as China, India, and Brazil. At the same time, Bütikofer acknowledged that any plan for a climate regime would still need to protect economic growth, in order to get China to sign on to it. This would require a new developmental model that offsets carbon output.

He also detailed China's reasons for supporting a comprehensive move against climate change, listing the many environmental consequences of climate change for China. These included more powerful storms, rising sea levels, damage to important river systems, and a drop in food production.

In response to these challenges, Bütikofer suggested a number of things the west can do to help curb emissions in China. These include sharing research on climate change, transferring technology that can raise energy efficiency, and also transferring administrative experience, to allow the Chinese government to overcome the inefficiency and obstructiveness of regional and local leaders. He suggested that more democracy would also be helpful, because reversing climate change requires the unified effort of civil society to check corruption and make sure necessary change occurs.

-Andrew Lebovich, Research Intern, American Strategy Program.

This event was co-sponsored with The Heinrich Böll Foundation of North America.

High Oil Prices, Plummeting Home Values and the State of Middle Class America

Communications — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
06/25/2008 - 12:15pm

On June 25, 2008, the New America Foundation brought together Leo Hindery, Managing Director at InterMedia Partners and former senior economic advisor to the John Edwards Campaign, and Tom Gallagher, Senior Managing Director at International Strategy and Investment Group, to discuss the causes behind skyrocketing oil prices and their implications for American middle-class families. An MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below, while video is available at right.

Hindery began by laying out research pointing to speculative investment as the reason for between one third and one half of the recent oil price increases. Sovereign wealth funds are adding to this distortion. Many of these funds, often under the control of non democratic nations such as Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia, throw their financial weight around for geopolitical as opposed to financial benefit. These funds, combined with capital controlled through various other governmental means, total thirteen trillion dollars in value.

Current U.S. policies only demand governmental review in the case of foreign investment into sensitive technologies or infrastructure. In an era of global capital flows, these policies need to be expanded to include review of foreign investment in U.S. financial markets. The approval process must also be made more stringent, without the current bias towards automatic approval.

Gallagher laid out both his near term predictions for the US economy (limbo in the U.S. and fast economic growth fueled by irresponsible monetary policy in much of the developing world) and his longer term speculation on the direction of political thought in America. Will ’08 be a reversal of ’80 with regards to a reversal of the past two decades’ convention of limiting government influence? As globalization has increased individuals’ perceptions of personal and professional instability, there has been increasing demand for policy safety nets. These feelings seem to be reaching a crescendo in this election season.

-Ian McAllister, Research Intern, Economic Growth Program

Competing in the Green Economy

Communications — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/14/2008 - 3:00pm

On May 14th the New America Foundation held an event on the future of solar technology and America’s competitive edge. Mike Splinter, President and CEO of Applied Materials, was the featured speaker for the event. Rhone Resch, President of Solar Energy Industries Association, was invited to offer opening remarks. The event was moderated by Steven Clemons, Director of the American Strategy Program at New America. An MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below, while video is available at right.

To begin his discussion, Mr. Splinter raised the issue of record-high energy prices; oil prices are rapidly rising and the cost of coal has doubled in the last year. There is a great demand from the American people for energy alternatives. Mr. Splinter believes renewable energy is the solution. He stated that within a century renewable energy could provide 100% of the world’s primary energy needs.

There is also increasing competition overseas as Germany and China take the lead in developing renewable energies. Mr. Splinter believes the U.S. should take the lead rather than follow in developing a low-carbon economy. He offered a three-step formula for America to take the lead in renewable energy. First, there should be significant loan guarantees for businesses that invest in clean energy production. Next, there should be a significant increase in R&D for America to maintain its technological edge. Finally, Congress should pass a long-term extension of the solar investment tax to encourage extensive investment in infrastructure.

Mr. Splinter concluded by stating the urgent need for an energy solution, “Energy and the environment are the two biggest social and economic issues of our time. America has the ability to make a difference.”

-Faith Smith, American Strategy Intern

The Presidential Candidates' Domestic Policy Plans

Communications — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/29/2008 - 8:30am

On Tuesday the 29th of April, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, in association with the New America Foundation, American University and the Tax Foundation, hosted an event concerning the major domestic policy issues facing the nation before the upcoming presidential election. Focusing on the candidates’ policy proposals, the event featured four panels of policy experts. The first three—on climate change, health care, and tax reform—featured independent experts from across the political spectrum, expressing varied and often contradictory views on their issues of expertise. The final panel featured economic advisors from the campaigns themselves, who gave the audience a glimpse of the candidates’ views on these important policy issues.

The first panel, moderated by David Wessel of the Wall Street Journal, concerned climate change policy. The panelists, William Pizer of Resources for the Future, Nikki Roy of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and Robert McNally of the Tudor Investment Corporation agreed that all three candidates had promising positions on the issue from the perspective of an environmentalist. At the same time, all three expressed skepticism about the candidates’ commitment to the issue. Pizer pointed out that there are four major components to a national environmental policy—cost, competitiveness, allocation and treatment of preexisting state-level climate policies—that will make climate legislation difficult to design and equally difficult to move through congress. Roy complained that none of the candidates were campaigning on the issue, despite supporting it on their websites. Without putting it out front in the campaign, he suggested, the candidates would not have the political capital to push legislation through once they are elected. McNally added that whatever legislation eventually passed would take years to do so, and that eventual success might have to be driven by a small energy crisis, such as widespread brown-outs in major cities. In the end, the panelists agreed that the scientific community had reached a strong consensus, but disagreed about whether the American public would continue to support climate change policy as it drives up energy bills.

The second panel, also moderated by Wessel, featured a discussion on healthcare reform from John Sheils of the Lewin Group, Joe Antos of the American Enterprise Institute, and Len Nichols of the New America Foundation. Sheils spoke first, discussing the employer tax exclusion for health insurance and the problems associated with it. In addition to costing around $250 billion in forgone public revenue, he explained, the exclusion is regressive and leads to over-purchasing of health insurance. It could be improved, he suggested, by replacing the exclusion with a standard deduction or tax credit. Nichols and Antos spoke next, taking turns discussing the good and bad parts of the Presidential candidates’ proposals. Nichols spoke favorably of McCain’s willingness to propose supply-side delivery system reforms and his decision to use the existing employer tax exclusion funds to subsidize individuals through a tax credit, rather than a tax deduction. At the same time, Nichols expressed concerns that McCain’s proposal to allow insurance to be purchased across state lines would leave insurance inaccessible for some Americans, particularly the sick, and disappointment that McCain has not discussed covering all Americans as a goal. Antos liked that the Democrats focused on bringing down healthcare costs and included some elements of consumerism, and was also happy that neither was claiming universal coverage as a free lunch. At the same time, he felt their plans include promises which couldn’t be kept, such as universal coverage and insurance “as good as your Congressman’s,” while over-regulating, overspending, and providing a back-door to single-payer healthcare.

The third panel, on tax policy, was moderated by Rudy Penner of the Urban Institute. Penner gave opening remarks, and then handed the microphone over to Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute, Len Burman of the Tax Policy Center and Scott Hodge of the Tax Foundation. All three agreed that tax policy is reaching a crucial point, with the Bush tax cuts expiring, the AMT reaching millions of new taxpayers every year, and the costs of government rising. Both Brill and Hodge supported McCain’s proposal to lower the corporate rate, citing its positive effect on growth and American competitiveness. Burman had few kind words for the current slate of policies the candidates have proposed, reserving particular disapproval for McCain’s gas-tax-holiday proposal, which Clinton has since supported. Following their opening remarks on the candidates’ plans, the panelists discussed the potential for a value added tax (VAT) to help solve some of these problems. All three agreed that it could be a useful tool, with Burman suggesting that it might help pay for health care, and Hodge saying that it could cover some of the cost of lowering the corporate tax rate.

The final panel, also moderated by Penner, featured a discussion between the economic advisors of the remaining presidential candidates, including Brian Deese, Dan Tarullo, and Kevin Hassett of the Clinton, Obama, and McCain campaigns, respectively. All three representatives believed his candidate would be best for the economy, but set out different economic goals. According to Tarullo, Obama’s policies will aim to foster a stable environment for economic growth, relief for the middle class, improved productivity, and a sustainable international economic environment. McCain, according to Hassett, would lower tax rates and improve the tax code to encourage economic growth and international competitiveness, while ensuring that lower taxes are accompanied by smaller government. Deese, finally, explained Clinton’s goals of addressing the “middle-class squeeze,” increasing the international attractiveness, restoring fiscal responsibility, and ensuring proactive and pragmatic executive leadership to address economic problems as they come.

-Marc Goldwein and Paul McLaughlin, Program Associates for the Fiscal Policy Program

CA Event: How Do/Should We Tax?

Communications — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:34:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/27/2008 - 8:30am

California has a tax system largely fixed in place during the Great Depression, in an industrial economy-setting unconcerned with environmental sustainability. Two questions about this tax system are posed here: First, can California find ways to raise the revenue it needs in the 21st century that are a better fit with our high-tech, service-based economy than is the current system? Second, can California's tax/fee structure be used to meet the state's greenhouse gas emissions under its AB 32 guidelines?

On Feb. 27, 2008, the New America Foundation and the University of California Center in Sacramento hosted a half-day conference with experts discussing these pressing questions. An MP3 audio recording of the full event, as well as presentation materials and conference articles released at this event, are available below.

California Event: White Certificates

Communications — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/19/2007 - 10:00am

As California searches for market-based incentives for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions, white certificates -- tradable certificates representing one megawatt of verified electrical savings --are emerging as a promising policy option.

In this one-day seminar, nationally known experts will discuss the benefits and complications of white certificates as well as the ways in which white certificate programs affect incentives for energy efficiency. Following the presentations, Bill Prindle of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy will lead a robust discussion on the future of white certificates and California.

This event is hosted by Commissioner Rosenfeld’s office at the California Energy Commission and it is a joint presentation of the CEC, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, and the New America Foundation.

If you have questions, call or email Claudie Kiti Bustamante at (916) 448-5189 or Bustamante@newamerica.net.

To watch a live webcast of this event, please visit the California Energy Commission website.

Informing the U.S. Energy Policy Debate

Communications — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:20:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/16/2007 - 9:00am

America’s continuing growing demand for energy is facing an upward climb of oil and gas prices, competition for energy from countries like China and India, and concerns about CO2 emissions, global warming and its impacts. We are now engaged in heightened discussions about energy use and alternative and renewable sources of energy in the U.S. political landscape. Unfortunately, the space for broad and honest debate is often clouded by political ideologies, difficulty in understanding the data that is available, and biased presentations by special interests that focus narrowly on aspects of the nature and severity of the challenges and how best to address them.

At this seminar, the Millennium Institute will unveil the new Threshold 21-USA (T21-USA) model that provides a transparent and comprehensive means to assess the broader benefits and impacts of the various options in a non-partisan manner. It is a dynamic framework that helps guide energy policy formulation by showing results through long term and across-the-board scenarios. T21-USA informs the policymaking process by revealing the results of alternative energy policies and options in the future, and demonstrating their implications for the economy, the environment, and society under different assumptions. The meeting will show how several current energy policies will work out over time and discuss how others can be developed and tested. It will include a discussion of the model’s structure and relationships by experts in the public and private sectors. Realistic applications of the model will also be presented.

From Silicon to Photovoltaics

Communications — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:02:00 -0400

A New America Event
06/05/2007 - 1:00pm

Hailed by many as the greatest business opportunity of the 21st Century, "clean tech" may offer more than just an economic engine; it offers an opportunity to benefit people around the world. Applied Materials CEO Michael Splinter will discuss the importance of solar power as a meaningful part of a comprehensive American energy strategy.

Michael Splinter is President and CEO of Applied Materials, Inc. Splinter, a 30-year veteran of the semiconductor industry, previously served as an executive at Intel Corporation. Currently, he serves on the board of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International and he is the Board Chair of Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Internationally, Splinter is a member of the Governors' Council of the World Economic Forum.

Video of this engaging discussion on the future of solar energy is available at right.

Is Energy Efficiency the Answer?

Communications — Wed, 16 May 2007 23:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/17/2007 - 9:30am

In an era of increasingly high oil and gas prices, concerns about CO² emissions, and uncertainty about the security of supply, energy policy has come to dominate political discourse around the world. To date, the energy debate has centered largely on how to secure future energy supply and how to finance research into alternative sources of fuel. While these concerns are important, no energy policy will succeed without first mining our immense energy efficiency opportunities. After all, what's the point of increasing supplies that are destined to be wasted?

The good news is that there is a very large opportunity to moderate energy demand growth in economically attractive ways--and, in the process, cut CO₂ emissions. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) kicked off the event with a major announcement and speech on energy, security and climate policy for the United States. And the McKinsey Global Institute unveiled the findings of their ground-breaking report Curbing Global Energy Demand Growth: The Energy Productivity Opportunity, offering a new fact base and policy options to curb energy demand.

To read Gov. Richardson's keynote address, please click here.

The Petro Mirage

Communications — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/16/2007 - 3:00pm

Over the past decade, improving the development and governance in oil-producing countries has become an international project encompassing everything from the NGO-lead Publish What You Pay campaign, to transparency and anti-corruption initiatives, "future generations" accounts for oil royalties, the World Bank's model project in Chad, and even Hugo Chavez's attempt at refocussing Venezuela's national oil company on local development projects. While a consensus has evolved around the problems that oil poses for development, the solutions are still a work in progress.

While researching her book Oil On the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline, Lisa Margonelli investigated the confluence of economic, political, and environmental issues that impede development in countries including Venezuela, Chad, Iran and Nigeria. An Irvine Fellow at the New America Foundation, Margonelli kicked off a discussion on the relationship between petrostate leaders and the psychological aspects of living in an oil state, the relationship between corruption and government institutions including tax collections, the "new" nationalism in oil states, and the emerging relationship between violence and oil prices. The discussion also addressed the status of the Chad project as a "model," and whether Venezuela's new initiatives are encouraging development or merely creating a new system of patronage.

Video of this event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below.

California Event: Oil on the Brain

Communications — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 02:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/05/2007 - 12:00pm

Americans consume 10,000 gallons of gasoline a second: three gallons per person per day. New America Irvine Fellow Lisa Margonelli spent three years tracing the path that petroleum takes from oil fields far away to the gas tanks of California drivers. In her book Oil On the Brain she examines the history, chemistry, economics, politics and culture of oil to look at where our relationship to petroleum is taking us.

At this Sacramento event, Margonelli described her travels and discuss ed opportunities to change the status quo, particularly in California. High gas prices may be a chance for policy makers to offer radical new energy policies. She talked about one opportunity to make efficiency gains tradable, so that companies can work towards energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction while stimulating technology and creating jobs.

An MP3 audio recording of this event can be downloaded below. For more information on Oil on the Brain, please click here.

Oil on the Brain

Communications — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:37:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/12/2007 - 12:15pm

From the days of the 1970s OPEC oil embargo to the recent spikes in gas prices, and the constantly evolving and volatile situation in the Middle East, it seems everyone has “oil on the brain.” Yet, despite the fact that our daily lives are inextricable from oil -- the U.S. alone burns through 10,000 gallons of gasoline a second, or three gallons per person per day -- many of us have only limited knowledge of the substance often referred to as liquid gold.

In Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline, Lisa Margonelli trains a journalist's eye on the industry that drives our economy. Knee deep in the politics, chemistry, economics, and culture of petroleum, Margonelli draws on interviews with gas station owners, truckers, drillers, oil billionaires, NYMEX employees, members of the Niger Delta, Iranian workers, Venezuelan villagers, and Chinese automobile designers to bring new understanding to the substance that many of us take for granted.

A review in the San Francisco Chronicle (2/4/07) declares:

Surprising nuggets...come by the fistful in "Oil on the Brain," Lisa Margonelli's illuminating, entertaining stories of "people who oversee oil's long journey to our cars." Starting at her neighborhood filling station, she scurries up the pump like Alice down the rabbit hole, to discover and chronicle the delivery trucks, refineries, drilling rigs, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the oil market and, most tellingly, the voracious consumers, who daily go about changing the world with as much concern as they give that hidden penny.

At this D.C. book launch event, Skip Laitner, former EPA official and expert on climate change and energy consumption, provided opening remarks and moderated a lively question and answer session.

Setting America Free... From Dubious Energy Security Thinking

Communications — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/26/2006 - 9:00am

From Venezuela to Russia, the increasing control that state-owned companies exercise over world oil and gas reserves is empowering some energy exporters to act with increasing boldness against U.S. interests and policies. In a recent article for The National Interest, Flynt Leverett and Pierre Noël argue that U.S. foreign policy is ill-suited to cope with the challenges to American leadership that flow from the new petropolitics because current policy does not take energy security seriously as a foreign policy issue or prioritize energy security in relation to other foreign policy goals.

While each of the individual developments is challenging to U.S. interests, Leverett and Noël contend that the various threads of petropolitics are now coming together in an emerging "axis of oil" that is acting as a counterweight to American hegemony on a widening range of issues. At the center of this undeclared but increasingly assertive axis is a growing geopolitical partnership between Russia (a major energy producer) and China (the paradigmatic rising consumer) against what both perceive as excessive U.S. unilateralism.

Video of this event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording and Noel's presentation slides can be downloaded below.

Illusion and Reality in the Middle East

Communications — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 23:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/05/2006 - 12:15pm

At this recent New America event, Flynt Leverett, former National Security Council Senior Director of Middle East affairs and Middle East expert with the current Administration's Policy Planning Staff, outlined a compelling vision for a U.S. recovery strategy for the region in this special event with American Strategy Program Director Steven Clemons.

The discussion elaborated on Leverett's cover story for The American Prospect, which makes a cogent case for the return of a realist-based foreign policy that would empower Middle East moderates and marginalize radicals through diplomatic means. Leverett argues that the U.S. must directly engage with Syria and Iran sooner rather than later by aiming to re-establish U.S.-Syrian cooperation on strategic regional issues and by pursuing a “grand bargain” with Iran, and must articulate a more substantive vision for a solution to the Palestine question.

Michael Tomasky, Senior Editor for The American Prospect, provided introductory comments, New America's Steven Clemons moderated.

Skeptical Environmentalism

Communications — Tue, 11 Mar 2003 15:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
03/11/2003 - 12:03pm

Statistician Bjorn Lomborg has been severely and widely criticized by environmental groups, the media and even by the Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty for his controversial theories on the state of the environment. The relentless attacks on Lomborg are instructive because they demonstrate the refusal of conventional science to embrace research or data that doesn't support the worst-case environmental scenarios.

Please join us as Bjorn Lomborg reflects on the research having brought him to these conclusions and the controversy they have caused.

Strange Bedfellows?

Communications — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 11:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
11/20/2002 - 12:00pm

Over Labor Day weekend 2002, while Americans focused on the prospect of war with Iraq, the first anniversary of September 11, and the last days of their summer vacations, thousands of government officials, non-governmental advocates, and business executives gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for the third global summit on the environment. With the world?s attention elsewhere, the World Summit on Sustainable Development was an anticlimactic conclusion to three decades of global environmental activism. What did emerge from Johannesburg was a new debate. Many governments -- most notably the United States-and some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) argued that voluntary partnerships between business, governments, and NGOs were the best way to make concrete progress on sustainable development. More than 60 such partnerships were announced at the Summit. Other NGOs condemned this approach as an abdication of governments' responsibilities to solve problems and to hold global corporations accountable for their behavior. In the words of Greenpeace, "big business and polluting governments like the U.S. have joined forces in Johannesburg once again to... undermine any attempts to make corporations accountable for the devastation they bring."

Is this a realistic method of achieving sustainable development or a ploy for government to wash its hands of environmental responsibility? Please join us as Glenn Prickett investigates this debate.

The Role of Regulation

Communications — Wed, 23 Oct 2002 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/23/2002 - 12:00pm

The wave of financial liberalization which is closely linked with the ongoing process of globalization has indirectly led to significant environmental impacts. At the same time this increasingly free flow of capital has undermined the ability of national regulations to mitigate these problems. This talk proposed a framework for thinking about the environmental effects of international financial flows and for designing beneficial regulations.