Download the Summit on America’s Climate Choices Agenda (PDF)
March 30 — March 31, 2009
The National Academy of Sciences Building
PROGRAM — REVISED MARCH 24
March 30, 2009
8:30 AM: WELCOME AND GOALS
- Albert Carnesale, Chancellor Emeritus, UCLA and Chair, Committee on America’s Climate Choices
- Ralph Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences
9:15 AM: SESSION 1: WHY IS THIS STUDY NEEDED? PERSPECTIVES FROM STUDY SPONSORS
- The Honorable Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Chair, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies
- Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator
10:00 AM: BREAK
10:30 AM: SESSION 2: KEYNOTE PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGE
- John Holdren, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy (Invited)
- James J. Mulva, Chairman and CEO, ConocoPhillips
11:30 AM: SESSION 3: WHAT INFORMATION DOES CONGRESS NEED? VIEWS FROM THE HILL
- The Honorable Bart Gordon (D-TN), Chair, House Committee on Science and Technology
12:00 PM: Lunch
1:30 PM: SESSION 4: THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
Moderator: Diana Liverman*, University of Oxford & University of Arizona
- Certainty and Uncertainty in Climate Science–Framing a Basis for Decisions: Susan Solomon*, NOAA
- Impacts–The Avoidable and the Unavoidable: Stephen Schneider, Stanford University
- Panel discussion: Acting on the certain and the uncertain
- Henry Jacoby, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense Fund
- Charles Holliday*, DuPont
3:30 PM: Break
4:00 PM: SESSION 5: THE AMERICA’S CLIMATE CHOICES STUDY: ARE WE ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?
Overview of tasks from the Committee and four Panels
Question/comment cards will be collected throughout this session.
- Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Robert Fri, Resources for the Future
- Panel on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change: Katharine Jacobs, Arizona Water Institute
- Panel on Advancing the Science of Climate Change: Pamela Matson, Stanford University
- Panel on Informing Effective Decisions and Actions Related to Climate Change: Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Committee on America’s Climate Choices: Albert Carnesale
Panel Chairs respond to questions from the audience. Moderator: Albert Carnesale.
5:30 PM: Informal Discussion with ACC Members in the Great Hall
Refreshments provided.
Tuesday, March 31
8:30 AM: SESSION 6: KEYNOTE PERSPECTIVES ON RESPONDING TO CLIMATE POLICY
Introductions: Albert Carnesale
- Mary Nichols, California Air Resources Board
- Lorents G. Lorentsen, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
9:40 AM: Break
10:10 AM: SESSION 7: WHAT SPECIAL CHALLENGES AWAIT US?
Moderator: William Chameides, Duke University and Vice Chair, Committee on America’s Climate Choices
- Integrating a National Response into a Global Framework: The Honorable Eileen Claussen, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
- Vulnerable Ecosystems: Carter Roberts, World Wildlife Fund
- Vulnerable Populations & Human Health: Howard Frumkin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Threats to National Security: R. James Woolsey, VantagePoint Venture Partners
12:15 PM: Lunch
1:30 PM: SESSION 8: WHAT TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE?
Moderator: Thomas Wilbanks*, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Technology Levers: Robert Socolow*, Princeton University
- Policy and Economic Levers: Jonathan Wiener, Duke University
- Regional Impacts & National Assessments: Jerry Melillo, Marine Biological Laboratory
- Panel discussion
- Jonathan Schrag, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc.
- Steve Nicholas, Institute for Sustainable Communities
- Heidi Cullen, Climate Central
4:00 PM: Break
4:30 PM: SESSION 9: ARE WE ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS? (TAKE 2)
Moderator: William Chameides
- Committee and Panel Chairs and Vice-Chairs take comments and questions from the audience: Albert Carnesale, Robert Fri, Marilyn Brown, Katharine Jacobs, Thomas Wilbanks, Pamela Matson, Thomas Dietz, Peter Raven, Diana Liverman
5:15 PM: CLOSING REMARKS: William Chameides
*Member, Committee on America’s Climate Choices
