SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
The White House answers your questions on clean power, green energy and more
Join Mother Nature Network and the White House Council on Environmental Quality for a panel discussion on sustainability in the federal government.
Wed, Oct 19 2011 at 4:30 PM
Related Topics:
Update: Thanks to everyone who participated in the panel discussion and to those who submitted questions.
The complete panel session is avilable below.
On Nov. 1, 2011, MNN hosted a live panel discussion in Washington, D.C. during the 2011 GreenGov Symposium. Dr. Heidi Cullen, MNN Board of Advisors member and director of communications and senior research scientist for Climate Central, moderated the discussion featuring members of the Obama administration who discussed energy security, green fleets, green jobs, the future of the federal sustainability efforts, and more.
About the panelists:
Jonathan Powers is the special advisor on energy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy, and Environment) and director of outreach for the Energy Initiatives Task Force. Prior to his current position, Jon served as chief operating officer at the Truman National Security Project where he directed an energy security program, Operation Free. In this position he wrote extensively about the development of energy within the Defense Department and testified to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the national security implications of the nation's energy posture. Jon also served for four years as an officer in the U.S. Army, including a 15-month tour in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom I.
Brian Deese works at the National Economic Council and is special assistant to the president for economic policy. Previously, he served as a member of the Economic Policy Working Group for the Obama-Biden transition. He emerged as "one of the most influential voices" in the Obama administration relative to the auto industry, specifically the Chrysler and GM workouts. Before joining the transition team, he was deputy economic policy director for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign and, before that, for Gene Sperling in the 2008 Clinton campaign. Deese graduated from Middlebury College in 2000 with a degree in political science and from Yale Law School in 2009. Previously, he was a senior policy analyst for economic policy at the Center for American Progress.
Michelle Moore is the Obama administration’s federal environmental executive, and is responsible for promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship throughout the federal government’s operations. Housed within the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive was created by executive order in 1993. The office leads the implementation of President Obama’s Executive Order on Federal Sustainability (EO 13514) and the GreenGov initiative, working collaboratively with the Office of Management and Budget and each of the federal agencies.
Prior to joining CEQ, Michelle was senior vice president of policy and public affairs at the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization that developed and oversees the LEED certification system. During her tenure, she created partnerships and programs that helped to grow green building to a mainstream movement with more than 6 billion square feet of registered and certified green buildings in more than 90 countries. Her prior experience includes serving as director of eBusiness for Interface Inc., and launching a tech start-up in the design industry. Michelle holds a master’s of science in foreign service from Georgetown University and a bachelor of arts from Emory University.
Michael Robertson serves as an adviser to the administrator, with particular emphasis on furthering the Obama administration's agenda at the General Services Administration, or GSA. He works with client agencies and the White House to ensure that GSA finds creative and collaborative ways to be a leader in sustainability, open government, recovery and responsible acquisitions. Beginning August 2009, Robertson served as associate administrator of governmentwide policy and chief acquisition officer for GSA. As head of the Office of Governmentwide Policy, he worked to develop and evaluate policies for management of the federal government’s internal operations. In addition, as chief acquisition officer, Robertson was responsible for developing and reviewing acquisition policies, procedures, and related training for GSA and federal acquisition professionals. He also served as the functional manager of GSA's acquisition workforce. Robertson began his service with GSA in early 2009, when he was appointed as White House liaison. Before coming to GSA, Robertson served as the deputy working group lead for the energy and environment agency review team on the Obama-Biden Transition Project. Immediately prior to that, he served the Obama for America presidential campaign as the primary point person for securing endorsements and superdelegate support from House and Senate members.
Rachel Tronstein: In her role at the Department of Energy, Rachel focuses on how to make renewables cost-competitive with traditional forms of electricity in the near term. She joined the DOE in early 2009, first working in the Policy International Office with an emphasis on U.S.-China clean energy cooperation. Before coming to the DOE, Rachel worked at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York as the commitments senior manager focusing on clean energy. Rachel has a masters of science from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor of arts with honors from the University of Michigan, where she was president of the undergraduate student body.
About the Council on Environmental Quality:
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) coordinates federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices to develop environmental policies and initiatives. CEQ was established within the Executive Office of the president by Congress as part of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and additional responsibilities were provided by the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970.
About GreenGov Symposium:
GreenGov Symposium aims to bring together leaders from government, the private sector, nonprofits and academia to identify opportunities to create jobs, grow clean energy industries, and curb pollution by greening the federal government. It will be held in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, 2011. This year's event will be co-sponsored by CEQ and the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO).
Want to learn more about MNN?
-
Sign up for MNN's free environmental newsletters.
-
Join us at Mother Nature's Facebook page.
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
- Too beautiful to be real? 16 surreal landscapes found on Earth
- 7 surprising things Pope Francis has done in his first 100 days
- Watch: Sir David Attenborough deals with a band of cannibals the British way
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- What a grocery store without bees looks like
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
- 13 natural remedies for the ant invasion
- 'Lost' city discovered beneath Cambodian jungle
- 6 unusual team-building activities
From our sponsor
NEWSLETTER
Advertisement
I'm convinced that there is a small cabal out there that is convvinced that Solar ois rhe greates gold mine since Ponzi. All over the world solar is succeeding at a phenomonal rate, and in this country, no matter how advanced the companies, or how much they produce, they all go bankrupt, mostly after getting a big loan. Is aqnybody paying attention to this? 1/2d
Hello and Congrat´s from Santiago de Chile, we are in the end of the world , but our resources the EUA know that we are and at the same position that all countries looking for the best solutions..
Great jobs Team
atte. Katherine Vogler Vera
Please look at this photo and explain why every nuclear power plant is not being shut down so that no other children in the world are exposed to dangerous radiation: http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/qua...
Thank you.
Thorium reactors show so much promise. What can we do in the US to encourage the development of this incredibly clean, safe, and abundant fuel source before the new dirty reactors get built?
Speaking of natural disasters, I live in eastern NC and have been trying to figure out a way for Federal and local groups to encourage energy effieciency upgrades of home and buildings through incentives or other methods. Any suggestions as to where to start?
Are there plans to make the Government's sustainability efforts interface with the public so that the Government's sustainability infrastructure will help improve availability, cost and feasibility for the areas where it is being implemented for everyone?
When and where was the opportunity to submit questions? I follow this stuff pretty closely (and Whitehouse's social media) and didn't see it.
Sorry about that, Aaron — the window for that closed earlier. They were to be sent to contact@mnn.com. We appreciate your interest and hope you'll tune in for future events like this one.
Thanks again,
MNN staff
I think we need to make sure the bees have a safe environment.We as humans depend on them we should start with foods and all things that effect it.Stop corp abuse.
Bill Gates is promoting nuclear power for the 21st century. New technoligies are available that no longer require fuel rods to cool the reactor, making for safer disposal and risk of accidents. When will we see more of these ideas become real?
The biggest thing i want to know about right now is industrial hemp in the U.S.
Looking forward to this discussion
U.S.A is producing almost 25% of carbon dioxide in the world what is your plane to reduce it? and will you accept kioto accord ?
Our Question:
Considering the fact that PROJECTS are what drive green energy, energy saving, pollution-reduction, efforts, what can be done to put sustainability in the forefront of the minds of the project managers of the nation so that they are motivated, capable, and energized to run such projects?
-Rich Maltzman, PMP and David Shirley, PMP
Co-Authors of the Cleland-Award winning book, “Green Project Management”
I'm sure the Keystone XL pipeline would create some temporary jobs, but wouldn't the oil sands also offset demand for renewable power sources in the long term?
Why does the government keep subsidizing the oil industry instead of doing more to help solar companies get off the ground?
I WOULD LOVE TO PUT IN SOLAR PANELS & SMALL HOME WIND but ALL government help, tax breaks, ETC are for people who already HAVE MONEY!!! HELP THOSE OF US WHO WANT 2 B GREEN & don't have any money!! THATS WHERE IT WOULD HELP THE MOST!!!!!!
I rent, so most energy saving incentives don't reach me and asking the landlord to add insulation, solar panels, etc just won't work. How can I improve my personal use of power when I can't make substantial changes to our home?
I think wind farms are beautiful and a great source of electricity. How do we encourage more wind farming and is it really a sustainable method for our power needs?
Pages