Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)

How Can Cities Become More Resilient to Extreme Weather?

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A live webcast will be streamed at 3:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
Mayors are on the front lines when natural disasters and other catastrophic events threaten lives and property. The National League of Cities (NLC) and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invite you to a briefing about what cities throughout the United States are doing to protect their communities by investing in resilience. Infrastructure dollars are only part of the story. Equally important is funding for planning that accounts for new weather patterns with more severe impacts than we’ve seen in the past and preemptive action to keep people and structures safe and functional. Coordinating land use; updating building codes; and strengthening social networks, lifelines and communications are just a few examples. These investments are resulting in additional community benefits: lower monthly expenses for households, businesses, and the city itself; the protection and restoration of natural resources; and local economic growth and job creation.
The United States is experiencing more heat waves, more heavy downpours, more floods, and more droughts, according to the 2014 National Climate Assessment. Tropical cyclones cause the most damage—more than $580 billion since 1980, followed by droughts ($232 billion), severe storms ($200 billion), and inland flooding ($118 billion). More than 9,600 Americans have lost their lives in the 212 largest weather disasters since 1980. Certainly the enormous disaster in Texas is weighing heavily on the hearts of Americans across the country.
This briefing's speakers will showcase some of the concrete, actionable steps their cities are taking to reduce their vulnerability to extreme weather and the costly and deadly impacts of these events, and share lessons learned.

Protecting America’s Water Amid Growing Threats

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A live webcast will be streamed at 10:00 AM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), and Clean Water Action invite you to a briefing on federal protection for clean water, which is increasingly under threat from steep proposed EPA budget cuts and recent decisions rescinding key federal rules (including the rules that applied the Clean Water Act to smaller waterways and wetlands or prohibited discharge of coal mining waste into streams). Meanwhile, aging infrastructure, population growth, and climate change—with its droughts and floods—put an ever-increasing strain on America’s waterways and drinking water. This requires increased investment and sharper focus on science-based policy simply to maintain existing water quality—let alone improve it—and protect water resources from systemic failures like the ones experienced in Flint, MI, Newburgh, NY, and many other places across the country. Speakers will discuss impacts of proposed funding cuts and rollbacks in clean water protections on public and environmental health, and how to undo the damage.

The National Security Implications of Climate Change

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Center for Climate and Security (CCS), the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation invite you to a briefing discussing the role of climate change as a "threat multiplier" in the geopolitical landscape and the implications that has for U.S. national security. The briefing will explore the risk management and planning considerations facing the Department of Defense (DOD) as it seeks to maintain force readiness and bolster infrastructure resilience. The panel will also discuss the need for investments in preventive measures today to prepare for future needs concerning disaster assistance, the Arctic, and the displacement of vulnerable populations due to climate change. Speakers for this forum include members of the CCS Advisory Board.

Powering Businesses, Homes and Vehicles with Waste

Lunch will be served
Please RSVP to expedite check-in
A live webcast will be streamed at -- Time to be determined -- at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The American Biogas Council (ABC), the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (CRNG) and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invite you to a briefing about the untapped energy in domestic wastes. Waste streams—including manure, agricultural waste, waste water, food scraps and landfill gases—can be converted to biogas and upgraded to renewable natural gas (RNG) for electricity, pipeline injection, or vehicle use, while also providing valuable products such as fertilizer and compost. Using these products provides local jobs, improves air and water quality, assists in meeting multi-agency nutrient management strategies and helps to meet multiple policy goals espoused in both the Farm Bill and the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Energy Emergency Preparedness: A Critical Federal-State-Private Sector Partnership

Lunch will be served
Please RSVP to expedite check-in
A live webcast will be streamed at 12:30 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) invite you to a briefing about the key role played by the 56 governor-designated State and Territory Energy Officials, other state agencies, the private sector, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in mitigating the impacts of and responding to energy supply disruptions (of electricity, natural gas, and petroleum products). Such emergencies, often caused by extreme weather, can pose a threat to public health and safety and can cause lasting economic harm. According to the Congressional Research Service, weather-related outages cost the nation between $25 and $70 billion annually.
State Energy Officials often lead the preparation of energy emergency (or energy assurance) plans, and work with the private sector and DOE in responding to energy emergencies. Equally important is mitigating the potential severity and length of energy emergencies through the promotion of more resilient energy infrastructure; electric generating fuel diversity; construction of high-performance mission critical public facilities; diversification of transportation fuels; and energy and water efficiency retrofits of public facilities. Such actions also help to minimize disruptions to mission-critical facilities, such as police and fire stations, schools, water systems, hospitals and communications infrastructure. To fulfill this critical public safety mission, State Energy Offices and their partners rely on the federal funding provided by DOE’s State Energy Program (SEP), and the expertise offered by its Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.
In partnership with DOE, states have led innovation on energy emergency preparedness and response, as well as energy infrastructure resilience, for over 25 years. Their efforts focus on limiting the impact of energy supply disruptions from all hazards—natural and man-made—and returning energy systems and communities to normal activity as rapidly as possible. In this briefing, NASEO and state energy directors will discuss the concept of energy assurance—as well as key mitigation actions—and how State Energy Offices partner with state and local agencies and the private sector to rebuild after a natural disaster, prepare for future emergencies, and improve resiliency with energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Investing in U.S. Infrastructure for Maximum Dividends

Lunch will be served
Please RSVP to expedite check-in
A live webcast will be streamed at 12:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) invite you to a briefing on America's infrastructure needs and the business case for investing in long-term reliability and sustainability. Electric power outages, failing bridges, congested airports, deficient mass transit… all have substantial economic costs. A critical 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report, Failure to Act: Closing the Infrastructure Investment Gap for America’s Economic Future, found that failing to fix and improve our nation's infrastructure will result in $3.9 trillion in lost GDP by 2025, and 2.5 million lost jobs. There are also significant health and safety risks—Flint, MI, is just one example of the tragic consequences of neglected infrastructure.
Both political parties have floated plans to spend $1 trillion to upgrade U.S. infrastructure, with different ideas on how to pay for it. What could $1 trillion buy for the country? How can policymakers help set priorities and ensure smart investments that produce the best outcomes possible? In this briefing, infrastructure experts will help answer these and other questions and discuss the value of building for resilience.

How Foreign Climate Aid Benefits the United States

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A live webcast will be streamed at 3:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation invite you to a briefing discussing benefits to the United States from deploying foreign aid to vulnerable regions to help them become more resilient to climate change impacts. The briefing will also explore the inner workings of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a multi-lateral effort to mobilize $100 billion in public and private financing for adaptation and mitigation projects in developing nations.

The Economic Returns of a National Transportation Infrastructure Initiative

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A live webcast will be streamed at 3:30 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the National League of Cities (NLC), and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invite you to hear examples from communities across America of transportation investments that benefit the national economy, by creating direct and supply-side jobs while boosting regional economies.

Can the United States Achieve a Low Carbon Economy by 2050?

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A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing showcasing two new reports on how to transition the United States toward a low carbon economy. The reports, From Risk to Return: Investing in a Clean Energy Economy and the United States Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization, present a range of pathways that can achieve deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2050. These pathways involve mixtures of: energy efficiency, renewable energy, nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, increased carbon sequestration in U.S. lands, and reductions in non-CO2 emissions. These pathways rely on commercial or near-commercial technologies that American companies are adopting and developing. The briefing will explore how deeper investment in clean energy can yield long-term dividends for the American economy.

Electric Transmission Infrastructure 101

Please RSVP to expedite check-in
A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)
WIRES, the House Grid Innovation Caucus, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invite you to an important briefing on the modernization of the nation’s critical network of high-voltage transmission. Designed and built well before the digital age to serve more localized customer loads, the “grid” is struggling to support active and increasingly competitive wholesale power markets that now operate regionally. It is often congested or inadequate to deliver domestic energy resources that are not close to customers. Its aging facilities have acknowledged weather and cyber vulnerabilities. Moreover, the planning and regulation of this fundamental infrastructure is complex, often uncoordinated, and slow to produce results. However, despite the combined effects of the recession and greater energy efficiency, the grid will be called upon to serve 30 percent more electrical demand over the next two decades.