Event Calendar

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Perspectives on the Energy Transition

Start Date: 12/2/2021 10:00 AM EST
End Date: 12/2/2021 11:00 AM EST

Venue Name: Virtual


Organization Name: WIIT

Contact:
Crystal Poole
Email: info@wiit.org
Phone: (202) 869-3775

WIIT invites you to join us for a lively discussion with leading experts in the energy policy space who will share their perspectives on the energy transition. Climate change is now a policy priority which has resulted in a fundamental rethinking of energy supply and demand dynamics. Policymakers are in the midst of trying to operationalize ideas that ultimately will transform how energy is produced and consumed, which has significant implications for trade flows and supply chains. The event will include a discussion on efforts by the current Administration to reshape the U.S. energy balance, and how the rest of the world is rethinking its place in the strategic energy map. 

Speakers:

  • Adam Sieminski, Senior Advisor to the Board of King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, former head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy

  • Kate Gordon, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

Moderated by Sarah Ladislaw, Managing Director, RMI

Introduction by Soozhana Choi, Co-Chair of WIIT’s Environment and Energy Program

 


Bios
Adam Sieminski is the Senior Advisor to the Board of King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.  KAPSARC is a leading think tank located in Riyadh. Its mission is to advance Saudi Arabia’s energy sector and inform global policies on energy, economics, and the environment. He served as the President of KAPSARC from April 2018 to August 2021, and before that held the Schlesinger Chair for Energy & Geopolitics at CSIS. From 2012 through 2016 he served as head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). While awaiting Senate confirmation for EIA, he was Senior Director for Energy and Environment at the U.S. National Security Council. Earlier, he was Deutsche Bank’s chief energy economist and integrated oil company analyst, working in Baltimore, London, New York, and Washington. Sieminski holds the CFA designation and earned a BS degree in Civil Engineering and a Master in Public Administration, both from Cornell University.

Kate Gordon has spent the past two decades working at the intersection of climate change, energy policy, and economic development. Most recently, Gordon served under California Governor Gavin Newsom as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor on Climate. 

Trained as a community organizer, and later in law and regional economic development, her focus has long been on bringing diverse groups together to work toward a more sustainable, inclusive economy. Prior to being appointed OPR Director, Gordon was the founding director of the Risky Business Project, which focused on quantifying the economic impacts of climate change on key U.S. regions and sectors. 

Gordon has served in senior leadership positions at several nonpartisan think tanks including the Henry M. Paulson Institute, the Center for the Next Generation, the Center for American Progress, and the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Gordon got her start on energy and climate issues working at the national Apollo Alliance, where she ultimately served as co-Executive Director until the merger with the Blue-Green Alliance in 2011. Under her leadership, the Apollo Alliance drafted key parts of the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) including the Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit, and also partnered with the AFL-CIO to draft "just transition" proposals for several key energy and climate bills.

Gordon earned a J.D. and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California-Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University.
 
Sarah Ladislaw is a Managing Director at RMI, where she leads the US Program. She also works on other global initiatives like the Mission Possible Partnership to reduce industrial-sector emissions and supports the development of green banks.
Sarah was previously senior vice president and director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she led the think tank’s work in energy policy, geopolitics, and technology analysis. She spearheaded new work at CSIS on climate change and foreign policy, deep decarbonization, and just transitions.

Before CSIS, Sarah worked in the Office of the Americas in the US Department of Energy’s Office of Policy and International Affairs, where she covered a range of economic, political, and energy issues in the Western Hemisphere. In addition, she spent a short time working at Statoil as its senior director for international affairs in the Washington office.

She is a member of the Strategic Advisory Council for Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Initiative and the University of California, Davis, Institute of Transportation Studies Board of Advisors.

Soozhana Choi

Online Registration

Registration is Closed
Closed: 12/2/2021 10:30 AM

Add to my calendar

Map


Upcoming Events

Check out our upcoming events and sign up today!

Events Calendar

WIIT Weekly

Have you seen the latest WIIT Weekly?  

Read Now

Charitable Trust

Learn more about WIIT's Charitable Trust, volunteer or donate!

Learn More