Conference on Climate Change Policy:  Lessons from the European Experience

Opening Reception and Keynote Address by Sir Alan Collins
Consul-General, British Consulate in New York
Thursday, March 25, 2010 5:00 - 7:00 pm

Lessons from Europe

Climate Change Policy: Lessons from the European Experience

Organized by the Rutgers Initiative for Climate and Social Policy

and the Rutgers Center for European Studies

with additional support from

Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Ecologies in the Balance

The Climate & Environmental Change Initiative

and the office of Undergraduate Education

With funding from New Jersey Natural Gas

March 25-26, 2010 • The Eagleton Institute of Politics • Wood Lawn

With the US Congress and the EPA considering national responses to climate change, debate is intensifying over which policies may prove most effective in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many important climate change initiatives have already been launched at the state level, and New Jersey has emerged as a national leader. In considering policy options at the state and federal level, US policy makers can benefit greatly from studying the experiences of the EU and its member states in attempting to address climate change. Over the past decade, the EU and its member states have launched a series of ambitious climate change policies, and we in the US can learn a great deal by examining the successes and shortcomings of these initiatives.

Rutgers Initiative for Climate and Social Policy and Rutgers Center for European Studies are pleased to host this conference that will bring together experts on US and European climate change policies to explore what US policy-makers can learn from developments in Europe in recent years.

Thursday March 25

5:00-5:30 Reception

5:30-5:45 Opening remarks: R. Daniel Kelemen, Director, Rutgers Center for European Studies & Martin Bunzl, Director, Rutgers Initiative on Climate Social Policy and Politics

5:45-7:00 Keynote Address: Sir Alan Collins, Consul-General, British Consulate-General in New York. Followed by Q&A with the audience.

Friday March 26

8:45-9:15 Coffee/ Breakfast

9:15-10:45 Panel 1: Climate Change and Energy Policy in Europe

Chair/Discussant:

Frank Felder, Director, Center for Energy, Economic & Environmental Policy and Associate Research Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Panelists:

Christian Egenhofer , Senior Fellow and Head of the Energy and Climate Programme Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, Belgium

Friedo Sielemann, Counselor on Environment and Energy, Deputy Head of Section- Economic Department Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany

Henriette  Bersee, Counselor on Environment, Royal Netherlands Embassy,  Washington DC

10:45-11:00 Coffee

11:00-12:30 Panel 2: The EU's Emission's Trading Scheme

Chair/discussant:

Jane Kozinski, Senior Policy Advisor – Climate Change, British Embassy

Panelists:

Denny Ellerman, Professor Emeritus MIT Center for Energy and Environment Policy Research

Michael Mehling, President, Ecologic Institute, Washington, DC

Bruce Mizrach, Associate Professor of Economics, Professor, Department of Economics, Rutgers University

12:30-1:30 Lunch

1:30-3:00 Panel 3: Climate Change and Transport in Europe

Chair/discussant:

Robert Noland, Professor and Director, Voorhees Transportation Center Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Panelists:

John Pucher, Professor, Urban Planning and Policy Development Program and Research Associate, Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center and Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Ralph Bühler, Assistant Professor in Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech University

Olivier Pairault, Deputy Counselor for Climate Change and Ecology, Embassy of France

3:00-3:15 Coffee

3:15-4:45 Panel 4: US Climate Change Policy: Pending Legislation and What the US might learn from Europe

Chair/Discussant:

R. Daniel Kelemen, Director, Center for European Studies

Panelists:

Thomas L. Brewer, Associate Professor, Mcdonough School of Business, Georgetown University

Nathaniel Keohane, Director of Economic Policy and Analysis Environmental Defense Fund

Arne Jungjohann, Program Director, Environment & Global Dialogue, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Washington DC

James Bradbury, Senior Associate, Climate and Energy Program, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC

4:45-5:30 Closing discussion

Roundtable facilitated by Professor Kelemen.