Keynote Address

Fueling Up: Economic and Environmental Implications of America’s Oil & Gas Boom

Houser’s forthcoming book from the Peterson Institute for International Economics is the first comprehensive assessment of the economic and environmental implications of the unconventional oil and gas boom. The study analyzes the impact on US GDP growth, employment, international competitiveness, air pollution and GHG emissions between now and 2035 of a range of potential oil and gas supply scenarios. Houser also analyzes how the growth in domestic oil and gas supply changes the politics and economics of climate change policy and the outlook for renewable energy. The hydrocarbon boom has rearranged the political map, making old alliances unworkable and new alliances possible. It also raises a host of new climate-related issues, from fugitive methane emissions to large-scale coal exports.

Speaker Bio

Special Screening

In Switch, energy visionary Dr. Scott Tinker travels the world, exploring leading energy sites from coal to solar, oil to biofuels, most of them highly restricted and never before seen on film.

“Smart and refreshingly free of hot air.” -Washington Post

“Intelligent, honest and quite effective.” -Variety

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Keynote Address

Catching Waves in a Rising Tide

Ben “Bud” M Brigham founded Brigham Exploration Company in 1990 and served as its President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board until its sale to Statoil ASA in December 2011. As founder and CEO, Mr. Brigham managed Brigham Exploration Company’s rapid growth as a private company from an initial investment of $25,000 in 1990 to its initial public offering in 1997. Join Bud as he tells the story of America’s energy renaissance and the pioneering entrepreneurs behind it.

Speaker Bio

Energy Poll

This groundbreaking public opinion poll measures and reports biannually (October and April) on consumer opinions and attitudes toward energy consumption, pricing, development and regulation. The Energy Poll results provide an impartial and authoritative source of public perspectives on energy to inform and guide discussion, business planning and policy development.

Join a presentation and discussion of the poll’s latest results on Friday, February 22.

UT Energy Poll Website

Keynote Address

The Policy Gridlock on Global Warming:  Why have twenty years of international talks failed to control emissions and how can policy makers do better?

David G. Victor is a professor at the UC-San Diego School of International Relations and Pacific Studies and co-director of the School’s new Laboratory on International Law and Regulation. Victor is author of more than 150 essays and articles in scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers, including Climatic Change, The Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Nature, The New York Times, Science, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. His most recent book, Global Warming Gridlock: Creating More Effective Strategies for Protecting the Planet, provides a roadmap to a lower carbon future based on encouraging bottom-up initiatives at national, regional and global levels, leveraging national self-interest rather than wishful thinking.

Speaker Bio

Keynote Address

K is for…

Global economies have very different primary energy mixes, especially in terms of energy used for power generation. The choice of fuels is a function of affordability, availability, reliability, and to a lesser extent environmental impact. The transition from a fossil-energy present to an alternate-energy future will span a century. Join Scott Tinker, Director at the UT Bureau of Economic Geology and creator of the new documentary, Switch, as he explains how a complex web of forces (and the letter ‘k’) all converge to dictate the pace of global change.

Speaker Bio