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October 21, 2009 – In the latest installment of the Alliance’s EE Policy Perspectives series, Alliance Associates were briefed by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Alliance Vice-Chair, ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
At the Monocle Restaurant – just steps from the U.S. Capitol building – Senator Murkowski spoke to the crowd about the American Clean Energy Leadership Act, upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Congress as they debate climate and energy legislation. Attendees included Kevin Ries of 3M; Marilyn Brown of the Georgia Institute of Technology; Paul Hamilton of Schneider Electric; John Fielder of Southern California Edison; Rich Wells of the Dow Chemical Company; and Jean-Pierre Benque of Electricité de France (EDF).
Introducing the Sentator was Alliance Industry Co-Chair and Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, who said of energy and climate legislation, “[A solution] is not on the left. It’s not on the right. It’s in the center of the road and that’s how we move America forward.”
The senator agreed. “We’ve got to be able to get into the room to have a conversation without being labeled, without being put in a camp,” she said of the pending negotiations. After relaying an anecdote about her family having replaced the windows in her 90+ year-old townhome, the senator circled back to the importance of energy efficiency as "something that everyone can be part of." According to the senator, “It makes sense that we should start with the things we can actually, tangibly change. This is what the Alliance does.”
Following her presentation, Sen. Murkowski answered questions about alternative and renewable energy sources, the viability of cap-and-trade and the critical nature of bipartisanship in effecting meaningful change in energy policies.
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