Distinguished journalist Mike Gousha will guide discussions by a panel of experts.Just about everyone is interested in President Obama’s economic stimulus plan. No surprise! There will be big bucks and benefits for just about every sector of the economy, public and private. And because energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions have high priority, there will be significant investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency to stimulate the rapidly growing “green economy.”
But the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“stimulus bill”) passed by both houses of Congress and reformulated in conference committee is huge and complex.
To provide analysis of this landmark legislation, the 2009 Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit will convene panels of experts to discuss opportunities for state and local government, business and industry, and education and students, our future workforce.
These vital forums will be held on the third day of the Summit, Friday, March 27, starting at 8 a.m. in the Midwest Airlines Center. MATC is the host institution for this outstanding conference. The moderator for the first two panels will be the highly respected Milwaukee journalist Mike Gousha, now Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy at Marquette University Law School.
The opening panel presenting perspectives from state and local government will include Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; Gary Wolter, head of the new state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment; and Eric Callisto, Chairperson of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC).
Following a short refreshment break from 9:30 to 10 in the Exhibit Hall, the second panel offering perspectives on stimulus gains for Wisconsin and alternative energy will convene at 10 with opening remarks by MATC’s beloved Congresswoman, Gwendolynne Moore.
Panel members include Judy Ziewacz, Director of Wisconsin’s Office of Energy Independence; Sammis White, Director of the UWM Center for Economic Development; Michael Gerrard, Director of Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law; and Charles Higley, Executive Director of Wisconsin’s Citizens Utility Board.
Refreshments from 11:30 to noon in the Exhibit Hall will precede a keynote address at noon by Congressman David Obey, Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and undoubtedly the most influential of Wisconsin’s representatives in the United States Congress.
Following Representative Obey’s keynote, the third forum moderated by noted Milwaukee attorney Art Harrington will focus on the role of the private sector in energy-related projects benefiting from the economic stimulus bill. This panel will include Tom Boldt, CEO of the Boldt Company; Jeff Crawford, Attorney General of the Forest County Potawatomie Tribe; and a Senior Executive of Johnson Controls, the Summit’s principal corporate sponsor.
All students may attend free of charge if they register before March 1! Register now at renewableenergysummit.org.
