Guarini Center

Considering A Career in Energy?
2016-02-25 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Room 201, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Have you ever considered a career in energy law or policy? Curious about what opportunities might exist in the field? Join us for lunch with two NYU Law alumni who are at the forefront of the profession.
Please RSVP here. Students and alumni only
Thursday, February 25th, 12 to 1:30PM
New York University School of Law
Vanderbilt Hall Room 201
Speakers:

Michael Shenberg ’85, Partner, White & Case
Richard Miller, ’87, Director, Con Edison

Speaker’s Bios:
Michael Shenberg
A recognized leader in his field, Michael focuses on energy M&A, capital markets and financing transactions.
He has represented financial and strategic investors in numerous deals involving the purchase or sale of energy assets, including large portfolios, single-asset deals and joint ventures. Additionally, Michael advises energy company clients on financings including restructurings, and corporate and commercial matters.
Richard B. Miller is Director of the Energy Markets Policy Group at Con Edison where he is responsible for federal energy policy issues, particularly as they relate to the operation of wholesale markets and the bulk electric transmission system. Previously, he was an assistant general counsel in the regulatory services department at Con Edison where he worked on legal matters relating to the Con Edison steam system, renewable power and energy efficiency. From 1998-2003, he was Senior Vice-President for Energy at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (where he oversaw City energy policy). Prior to 1998, he was an energy regulatory attorney for Cohen, Dax & Koenig in Albany, New York, and a litigation associate at Cohen, Weiss and Simon and Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City.
He is a graduate of Amherst College and New York University School of Law.

Nuclear Energy and the Clean Energy Future
2016-03-23 08:30 - 10:00 | NYU School of Law, D’Agostino Hall, Lipton Hall, 108 West 3rd Street, New York, NY, 10012, United States
On March 23, 2016, the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law at NYU School of Law, held a discussion on, “Nuclear Energy and the Clean Energy Future.”
Nuclear energy currently provides approximately 20 percent of America’s electricity—and the majority of the country’s zero-emissions electricity. Yet across the nation, many nuclear power plants are struggling to stay in business. These struggles raise questions about how states will implement their ambitious commitments to lower the carbon intensity of their power sectors. This event will examine the role that nuclear energy should play in helping America’s transition towards a lower-carbon energy system as well as legal and policy options for supporting nuclear energy. New York State’s recently proposed Clean Energy Standard, which is an innovative response to nuclear energy’s challenges, will be discussed in detail.

Speakers include:
Raj Addepalli, Managing Director of Utility Rates & Services, New York Public Service Commission
Emily Hammond, Associate Dean for Public Engagement; Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School
Emilie Nelson, Vice President of Market Operations, New York Independent System Operator
Eduardo Porter, Reporter, The New York Times
Martin Proctor, SVP, State Government and Regulatory Affairs and Competitive Market Policy, Exelon
Wednesday, March 23rd, 8:30 – 10:00am. Coffee and registration starting at 8:00am.
NYU School of Law
Lipton Hall, D’Agostino Hall
110 West 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
1.5 credits of CLE are available in the Areas of Professional Practice category. The credit will be both transitional and non-transitional.

Natural Gas Fired Generation in the US: Looking at the Road Ahead
2016-04-04 08:00 - 17:00 | NYU School of Law, D’Agostino Hall, Lipton Hall, 108 West 3rd Street, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Sponsored by White and Case LLP
The Guarini Center held a discussion with leading industry experts on the outlook for natural gas fired generation in the year ahead. Panelists examined legal, regulatory and market factors impacting the industry and the role of natural gas in the clean energy economy.
Monday, April 4, 6:30-8:00pm
NYU School of Law
Lipton Hall, D’Agostino Hall
110 West 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
The event is off the record and not available to press.
Speakers:

Scott Beicke, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
Catherine Callaway, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Dynegy Inc.
Thad Miller, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Calpine Corp.
Robert Mancini (’84), Managing Director & Co-Head of CPP-II, The Carlyle Group
Michael Shenberg (’85), Partner, White and Case LLP

2 credits of CLE were available in the Areas of Professional Practice category. The credit was both transitional and non-transitional.
Speakers’ Biographies:
Scott Beicke is a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley and part of the Firm’s Global Power & Utility Group. He is based in New York and focuses on M&A. Over the last few years, Scott has worked on announced M&A transactions totally ~40 GW of generation capacity, including Engie’s 10 GW sale and the spin-merger that created Talen Energy. He joined the Firm in 2004 as an Associate in the Global Capital Markets Division, serving in roles within the Credit Advisory Group and the Project & Structured Finance Group. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Scott worked as a fixed-income credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s in the Utilities & Energy Group. Scott earned a B.A. in economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. (with high honors) from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Catherine Callaway has held the position of Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Dynegy Inc. since September 2011. Ms. Callaway leads Dynegy’s Legal, Ethics and Compliance, NERC and Contract Administration functions. Dynegy generates reliable, environmentally responsible and affordable energy from its power stations located in the Midwest, Northeast and West Coast. Dynegy’s fuel-diverse fleet of power stations can generate 13,000 megawatts – about half from coal and half from natural gas plants – enough to power about 10 million homes. Through its retail electricity providers, Homefield Energy and Dynegy Energy Services, Dynegy serves residential, municipal, business and industrial customers in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Dynegy will double in size following the consummation of pending transactions with Duke and Energy Capital Partners. Ms. Callaway has been advising energy companies on legal matters for almost 25 years. Prior to joining Dynegy, she was General Counsel of Reliant Energy and the Gulf Coast Region of NRG Energy and prior to that she held various legal positions with Calpine Corporation, Reliant Resources, Coastal Power and Chevron. Ms. Callaway earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas.
Robert (“Bob”) Mancini is a Managing Director and Co‐Head of CPP II. Mr. Mancini serves as Chairman of the Board of Cogentrix. Mr. Mancini is based in New York.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Mancini was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he spent nearly twenty years. Most recently Mr. Mancini led the firm’s on‐balance sheet power asset business through Goldman’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cogentrix Energy LLC, where he was CEO. Mr. Mancini was instrumental in Goldman’s entry into the power asset business in 2003. Prior to 2003 Mr. Mancini was a member of the legal department where he eventually became the Deputy General Counsel of the Securities Division. Prior to joining Goldman, Mr. Mancini spent ten years in private practice as a lawyer with Debevoise and Plimpton, where he established that firm’s derivatives practice.
Mr. Mancini received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1984, where he was a member of the Law Review, and received his B.A. degree from Binghamton University in 1980, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Thad Miller has been Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Calpine Corporation, the largest US independent power generator based on production, where he has lead the Legal, Governmental & Regulatory Affairs, Internal Audit, Compliance, Corporate Communications and Insurance groups since 2008. Prior to that he held various positions, including Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Texas Genco LLC, an IPP; an energy advisor to TPG, a private equity firm; Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Orion Power Holdings, Inc., an IPP; Vice President of Goldman Sachs & Co.; and a partner with two New York law firms. Mr. Miller earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and his Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s School of Law. In addition, Mr. Miller was an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1973-76.
Michael Shenberg is a partner in the Firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group in the New York office. A recognized leader in his field, he focuses on energy M&A, capital markets and financing transactions for the Firm. Mr. Shenberg has represented financial and strategic investors in numerous transactions involving the purchase or sale of energy assets, including large portfolios, single-asset deals and joint ventures. Additionally, he advises on financings including restructurings, and corporate and commercial matters for energy company clients.

Leading the Green Revolution: Danish Perspectives on Building Energy Efficient Cities
2016-04-11 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Faculty Library, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
A global leader in energy efficiency, Denmark has roughly halved energy consumption in its buildings over the last 40 years. Denmark’s experience may offer considerable insights for other countries and cities seeking to reduce their carbon footprints. On April 11, the Guarini Center welcomed Peter Bach, chief adviser on energy efficiency at the Danish Energy Agency, Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building for a conversation on Danish energy efficiency policies. Bach discussed the strategies Denmark has implemented to achieve these impressive results and the obstacles the country encountered along the way.

Monday, April 11th, 6:30 – 8:00pm
NYU School of Law
Faculty Library (3rd Floor), Vanderbilt Hall
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Speakers:

Peter Bach, President, European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy; Chief Adviser on Energy Efficiency, Danish Energy Agency
Elta Kolo, Analyst, GTM Research
Danielle Spiegel-Feld, ’10, Executive Director, Guarini Center
Richard Yancey, Executive Director, Building Energy Exchange, Inc.

1.5 credits of CLE were available in the Areas of Professional Practice category. The credit was both transitional and non-transitional.
This project, which is produced in cooperation with the Heinrich Boll Foundation, is part of the Transatlantic Energy and Climate Network, a program funded by the European Union. It brings together opinion leaders, legislators and policy experts from both sides of the Atlantic who are committed to achieving policy change in support of a low carbon economy agenda that creates sustainable jobs, strengthens local economies and helps to fight climate change.

Speakers’ Biographies:
Peter Bach is the President of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. He is based at the Danish Energy Agency where he works as chief adviser on energy efficiency. He has worked with energy issues and policies during 30 years, with special focus on energy efficiency over the last 20 years.
Peter Bach is strongly involved in formulation, implementation and evaluation of Danish energy efficiency policies and measures. Over the last years he has especially been involved in an overall evaluation of the Danish energy saving activities; preparation of a new action plan on reduction on energy consumption in buildings; developing the rules for the energy utilities energy saving obligations, and the development of the Danish Energy Strategy 2050, which shows how Denmark can become independent of fossil fuels.
Peter Bach has also been strongly involved in international energy efficiency activities, including negotiations of new directives in EU as a representative for the Danish Government.
Elta Kolo (moderator) is a Grid Edge Analyst at GTM Research working on demand-side management in U.S. electricity markets. Prior to joining GTM, Elta pursued a joint PhD funded by the European Commission on Sustainable Energy Technologies and Strategies at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. During her PhD she researched demand response policies for the implementation of smart grids, and has presented her work at both U.S. and European conferences in addition to publishing in international scholarly journals. Elta holds an MSc in Economics and Management of Network Industries from Spain and France and a BA in Economics from Union College (NY).
Richard C. Yancey, AIA, LEED AP, is the founding Executive Director of the Building Energy Exchange, Inc. (BEEx), an independent, nonprofit organization that connects the New York real estate and design communities to energy and lighting efficiency solutions through education, exhibitions, technology demonstrations, and research, at their resource center in downtown Manhattan.
The work of BEEx has been featured widely, including the Wall Street Journal, Crain’s, Capital New York, and NY1; and Richard was named one of the Top Ten New York Energy Entrepreneurs (2015), and Top Ten Cleantech Leaders of New York (2013), by Breaking Energy.
Prior to BEEx, Richard has over twenty years of experience as an practicing architect, in Seattle and New York, leading a diverse array of commercial, institutional, and residential projects. He has lectured and published widely, and sits on the the New York City Mayor’s Climate Action Plan Technical Working Group. Richard received his Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Managing the Renewable Grid: A Transatlantic Dialogue
2016-06-13 09:00 - 11:00 | NYU School of Law, D’Agostino Hall, Lipton Hall, 108 West 3rd Street, New York, NY, 10012, United States
The Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law at NYU School of Law, held a discussion on, “Managing the Renewable Grid: A Transatlantic Dialogue.”
In 2015, renewable energy resources supplied approximately 33% of Germany’s electricity demand. Yet, despite the influx of intermittent resources, grid reliability does not seem to have declined at all. If anything, it has improved. What regulatory and technical innovations has Germany implemented to accomplish this feat and what challenges has it encountered along the way? The Guarini Center event examined the German experience and the lessons it may hold for New York State. The panel provided an update on initiatives underway in New York to help manage an increasingly renewable power system.

2 credits of CLE were available in the Areas of Professional Practice category. The credit was both transitional and non-transitional.

Special remarks by:
Audrey Zibelman, Chair, New York Public Service Commission, ‎New York Department of Public Service
Audrey Zibelman was confirmed as a Commissioner of the New York State Public Service Commission on June 19, 2013, and was named Chair on September 3, 2013. Her term turns through February 1, 2018. Ms. Zibelman has extensive experience in the public, private and notfor-profit energy and electricity sectors. She is a recognized national and international expert in energy policy, markets and Smart Grid innovation.
As PSC Chair, Ms. Zibelman oversees the regulation and safety of New York’s electric, gas telephone, cable, water and steam utilities. During her tenure, Ms. Zibelman has been responsible for designing and leading the regulatory and retail market changes of the electric industry under Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision, New York’s comprehensive plan to modernize and transform the State’s electric industry.
Ms. Zibelman is a Founder and past President and Chief Executive Officer of Viridity Energy, Inc., which she formed after more than 25 years of electric utility industry leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. Previously, Ms. Zibelman was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of PJM, a Regional Transmission Organization that operates the power grid and wholesale power market serving 14 states throughout the eastern United States. Ms. Zibelman also held legal and executive positions at Xcel Energy, served as General Counsel to the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, and was Special Assistant Attorney General in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
During her career, Ms. Zibelman has served on numerous industry-related and non-profit boards, including, but not limited to the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic Reliability Councils. She currently is Chair of the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment. She also sits on the State Energy Planning Board; the board of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Inc. (RGGI), the Audit Committee of RGGI, the New York State Disaster Preparedness Commission, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Task Force. Ms. Zibelman was appointed to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Board of Directors, and is a member of NARUC Committee on Electricity. She is a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee; a member of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Future Electric Utility Regulation Advisory Group. She is also a board member of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC).
Ms. Zibelman received her B.A. from Pennsylvania State University and her J.D. from Hamline University School of Law. Ms. Zibelman, who resides in Albany, and her husband, Phillip Harris, are the proud parents of four children.
Dr. Annegret Groebel, Director, International Coordination, German Federal Network Agency
Dr. Annegret Groebel has studied economics at the University of Heidelberg and Paris-Dauphine and was a researcher at the University of Mannheim where she also got her doctorate in 1996.
Dr. Groebel has worked for the German Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post since 1997 (renamed in 2005 to Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway).
Dr. Groebel has held the post of Head of Section “International Co-ordination” in the German Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post since 2001 and was promoted Head of Department International Relations/Postal Regulation in 2009. She also holds key positions at the Independent Regulators Group (IRG). She is actively involved in the work of the European Regulators Group (ERG) and of the newly created Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). She is responsible for all contacts to other European and non-European regulatory bodies as well as for the contacts with the European Commission, including CEER, ACER in the energy field, ERG-Post and IRG Railways. In March 2012, she was appointed Vice-President of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) and became the alternate member of the ACER Board of Regulators representing BNetzA at the BoR Plenary meetings. Since August 2013 she is co-chairing the Market Integrity and Transparency Working Groups of ACER and CEER. In November 2013 she was appointed to be a member of the NER Bureau supporting the NER Chair Luigi Carbone (AEEGSI). On 27 April 2016 she was elected Vice Chair of the ACER Board of Regulators.
She has expertise in the European regulatory framework for electronic communications and implementation, as well as the regulatory framework for the internal energy market and is lecturing at universities in Germany, the FSR in Italy, and Switzerland. She has advised public authorities on regulatory reform and sector specific regulation.
Other confirmed speakers include:

Jens Acker, Counselor, Energy and Climate Policy, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
Jens Acker, studied law and joined the regional administration of the Land of Saxony in 2000 taking care of regional funding programs, later of the relations to the federal state. Since 2007 he is working in the Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy. After Fukushima he joined the energy department where he was concerned with security of supply issues and CHP. Since April 2016 he is posted at the German Embassy in Washington DC where he is responsible for energy and climate issues.
David Edelson, Manager, Operations Performance and Analysis, New York ISO
Mr. Edelson is the Manager of Operations Performance and Analysis for the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which operates New York’s high voltage transmission system, manages the state’s wholesale electricity markets, and conducts comprehensive power system planning.
Mr. Edelson started his career in software development and joined the NYISO in 2006. During his time at NYISO, he has held various roles in product management, energy market design, and operations. He led the projects that put in place a centralized wind forecasting system, which resulted in NYISO becoming the first ISO/RTO to implement rules and processes to integrate wind resources into its 5-minute economic dispatch. In his current position, Mr. Edelson leads several teams responsible for analyzing and validating NYISO’s wholesale Day-Ahead and Real-Time energy market outcomes. His groups also have responsibility for administering the production wind forecasting program and regional market coordination programs between NYISO and its neighboring Control Areas.
Mr. Edelson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Information Systems from the University at Albany.
Damian Sciano, Director, Distributed Resource Integration at Consolidated Edison
Damian Sciano is Director of Distributed Resource Integration at Con Edison where he oversees the company’s evolving Distributed System Implementation Plan (DSIP) and Distributed Service Platform (DSP) designed to integrate distributed energy renewables like solar energy into the traditional electric distribution business.
Damian has over 25 years of utility experience working as a developer of cogeneration projects for Trigen Energy as well as working in Con Edison’s large power plants, electrical engineering groups, corporate planning and, prior to his current position, as a Senior System Operator responsible for overseeing the operation of the bulk electric system. Damian is a professional engineer and holds a doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering from NYU-Polytechnic School of Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Baruch College.

Eleanor Stein, Visiting Professor at Albany Law School and SUNY Albany; expert for America’s Power Plan; and former project manager for NYS Public Service Commission’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative
Eleanor Stein served as an Administrative Law Judge at the New York State Public Service Commission from 1994-2014; until November 2015 she was Project Manager for the Commission’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative for a more customer-centered, renewable, and distributed energy future. In 2015 she received a Master of Laws degree with distinction in climate change law and policy from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She teaches Law of Climate Change: Domestic & Transnational at Albany Law School and the Power Dialog at the State University of New York. While at the NY PSC, she presided over or mediated the Renewable Portfolio Standard (2004), the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (2007) and the Con Edison Resiliency Collaborative (2013-14). Her areas of interest include public policy dispute resolution, mobilizing public participation in energy matters, and climate justice. She is on the Board of EcoViva, a US-based project in solidarity with climate adaptation and sustainability in rural El Salvador. She is an expert with America’s Power Plan.
This event was made possible through the generous support of:

The Transatlantic Maritime Emissions Research Network (TRAMEREN) Inaugural Conference
2016-06-19
In June of 2016, the Guarini Center partnered with the Center for Enterprise University at Copenhagen University to convene an international workshop on strategies for controlling emissions from international maritime transport. Event details can be found, here.

Museum of the City of New York-COOL Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned City
2016-08-11 18:30 - 20:00 | The New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, New York, United States
“COOL | Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned City”
Thursday, August 11 at 6:30 pm
Please note: This event will take place next door at The New York Academy of Medicine (1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street).
While “summer in the city” may conjure up images of sweaty subway cars, in reality New York’s summers are actually a lot cooler than one might think. More and more electricity is being consumed for air-conditioning, and the resulting emissions will mean even higher outside temperatures as time goes on. Join author and environmentalist Stan Cox, named one of The Atlantic‘s “Brave Thinkers” in 2012, for a talk about the costs and benefits of New Yorkers’ growing reliance on climate control.
Stan Cox is research coordinator at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. He is author of Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer) (The New Press, 2010) and three other books on the global ecological crisis. The most recent, written with Paul Cox, is How the World Breaks: Life in Catastrophe’s Path, From the Caribbean to Siberia (The New Press, 2016).
A brief discussion and Q&A with Cecil Mark-Corbin, Deputy Director and Director of Policy Initiatives at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, to follow.
This event is the second program in Fast, Cool & Convenient: Meeting New Yorkers’ High Demands, our free three-part talk series developed in collaboration with The New York Academy of Medicine and supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities.
Admission is FREE, pre-register online at mcny.org/programs.

Voice of (Climate) Change in the Middle East
2016-09-22 12:00 - 13:00 | NYU School of Law, Furman Hall, Lester Pollack Colloquium, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY, 10012
A Conversation with HE Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates

Thursday, September 22, 12:00-1:00pm
NYU School of Law
Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall
245 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012
Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi was appointed UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment in February 2016. This portfolio is the first in the region, and will be responsible for leading the UAE’s national and international action on climate change. He is, as well, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the first international organization dedicated to renewable energy.
During this discussion, Dr. Al Zeyoudi will offer perspectives on the UAE’s approach to climate action, which is anchored in an ambitious agenda to diversify from away from oil and places climate change issues at the centre of foreign diplomacy.
This event is hosted in collaboration with the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute.

Offshore Wind: Charting the Path for the United States
2016-10-19 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, D’Agostino Hall, Lipton Hall, 108 West 3rd Street, New York, NY, 10012, United States
1.5 CLE credits in the Areas of Professional Practice category. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional.
This event was produced in collaboration with Chadbourne & Parke LLP
On October 19, the Guarini Center held a discussion with leading industry and government experts on the outlook for wind development off the coast of New York State and the broader US. Topics addressed include federal and state incentives for offshore development, New York’s offshore wind blueprint, and a look back at the factors that contributed to the development of the Block Island Windfarm.
Speakers:

Chaim Wachsberger, Partner, Chadbourne & Parke LLP (moderator)
David Hang, Senior Vice President of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P.
John Rhodes, President and CEO, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Scott Weiner, Deputy for Markets and Innovation, New York State Department of Public Service
Bill White, Senior Director of Offshore Wind Sector Development, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Frederick Zalcman, Head of Market Development & Government Affairs at DONG Energy

Bios:

Chaim Wachsberger represents sponsors, equity investors, and financing sources in connection with energy, transportation and other industrial and infrastructure projects in the United States and abroad. Mr. Wachsberger’s work includes acquisitions and divestitures, portfolio financings, and the development and project financing of major projects. These projects often involve complex structures, multilateral or export credit agency participation, and political risk insurance products. Mr. Wachsberger headed the Firm’s Project Finance Group from 1997 until 2010 and served on the Firm’s Management Committee from 1992 to 2013. He is an adjunct professor at NYU Law School co-teaching a course on US energy transactions.
Mr. Wachsberger has been ranked in “Band 1” for “Projects” in 2009-2012 and “Band 2” in 2016 in Chambers Global. In the United States, he has been listed for project finance in Chambers USA 2001-2006, 2008-2012 and 2016, The Legal 500 US 2010, 2012, 2015, IFLR1000 2012, Who’s Who Legal 2012, The Best Lawyers in America 2006-2008 and 2010-2013, and New York Super Lawyers 2006-2012.
Mr. Wachsberger is a member of the State of New York Bar Association, State of New Jersey Bar Association, and American Bar Association (Section on Corporation, Banking and Business Law). He is an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Law.
Mr. Wachsberger attended City University of New York, Queens College, B.A., 1973 and Columbia Law School, J.D., 1976.
David Hang is a senior vice president of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and a member of the D. E. Shaw group’s U.S. growth and buyout private equity unit. Prior to joining the D. E. Shaw group in 2007, Mr. Hang was a principal in the private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors, LLC and its predecessor, J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC. He is a member of the board of managers of Deepwater Wind, LLC and also serves as its chief financial officer. In addition, Mr. Hang serves on the boards of directors of Green Rock Energy, L.L.C. and the parent company of Dorado Beach Resort. He previously was a member of the boards of directors of Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc. and Vetco International Ltd. Mr. Hang earned a B.S. in commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, where he was designated an Echols Scholar for academic distinction.
John Rhodes was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on September 16, 2013.
Mr. Rhodes brings more than 30 years of experience in business with a focus on the financial and energy industries having lived and worked internationally, including India, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Rhodes served as the Director for the Center for Market Innovation at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an international environmental advocacy organization. The Center works to channel private capital towards environmentally beneficial investments with a focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, green infrastructure, and sustainable food and agriculture.
Before joining NRDC, Mr. Rhodes spent three years acting as Chief Operating Officer at Good Energies, a leading investment firm focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency. As a member of the senior management team, he oversaw operations, strategy and portfolio companies.
Additionally, Mr. Rhodes was a partner at Booz Allen Hamilton where he provided strategic consulting for clients across technology–intensive industries including energy, aerospace, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. He has also served as a Trader and General Manager at Metallgesellschaft, a German mining, metals and engineering firm.
He also serves on boards of several non-profit organizations, including the Alliance to Save Energy, Urban Green Council, New York Institute for Special Education, American Federation for Aging Research and Cornerstone Literacy. He previously served as a Trustee on the Citizens Budget Commission of New York and as an Advisory Council member for the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution.
Mr. Rhodes is a graduate of Princeton University and the Yale School of Management.
Scott Weiner is as the Deputy for Markets and Innovation at the New York State Department of Public Service, which has a broad mandate to ensure access to safe, reliable utility service at just and reasonable rates. In this role, Scott is responsible for leading the Department’s staff activities in support of New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative. Scott joined the Department after a distinguished career as an executive, educator and public official.
Scott has also served as a senior executive in a number of private and public corporations including as President of Ballard Generation Systems, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Petra Solar, Senior Vice President for Market Structure and Regulatory Affairs at Sithe Energies and Vice President for Corporate Development at General Public Utilities. Mr. Weiner has previously served on the board of many industry associations and non-governmental organizations including as Chair of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Electric Power Supply Association, the National Hydrogen Association and the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas.
Scott has served in a number of senior positions in New Jersey government. These include appointments as the Executive Director of the N.J. Election Law Enforcement Commission, President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Commissioner of the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Chief Counsel to former New Jersey Governor Jim Florio and as a Special Assistant Attorney General and Special Counsel to former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. He also served as a Borough Councilman and as President of the Borough Council in Fort Lee, NJ.
Scott is the founding Director of the Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy at Rutgers University and has served as a Senior Policy Fellow and Faculty Fellow at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

Bill White serves as Senior Director, Offshore Wind Sector Development at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). Bill leads MassCEC’s efforts on the federal leasing process for offshore wind development, as well as coordinated transmission planning, environmental surveys, met-ocean data collection, and stakeholder engagement efforts related to offshore wind. Additionally, Bill led the construction of the Marine Commerce Terminal in New Bedford, a first-in-the-nation facility designed for the staging, assembly, and deployment of offshore wind projects. Previously, Bill served as a Special Assistant to the President in the Clinton White House and worked at the U.S. Department of State. He is a graduate of Boston College’s School of Management (B.S.) and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (MPA).
Frederick Zalcman is DONG Energy Wind Power’s Head of Market Development and Government Affairs for the US. His work focuses primarily on creating robust, self-sustaining markets for offshore wind energy.
Zalcman has nearly 30 years of experience in the energy field as an attorney and policy analyst. His career has centered on promoting market structures and regulatory policies that are supportive of energy efficiency, renewable resources and clean distributed generation. Prior to joining DONG Energy, Zalcman was Managing Director of External Affairs for the Eastern U.S. for SunEdison, the world’s largest renewable energy developer, where he spearheaded legislative and regulatory efforts resulting in the exponential growth of distributed solar across multiple state markets. Previously, Zalcman was the Executive Director of the Pace Law School Energy and Climate Center, one of the nation’s preeminent sustainable energy research, education and advocacy groups.
Zalcman has served on a number of gubernatorial, legislative and agency advisory boards providing guidance and counsel on clean energy policy and program development. He has also taught energy and natural resources law, and has written and lectured extensively on energy and environmental matters. The Association of Energy Engineers named him the Northeast Region’s Renewable Energy Innovator of 2009.
Zalcman received a B.A in History from Washington University in St. Louis, and a joint degree in Law and Public Administration from Indiana University.

Sustainable Energy Solutions for Remote Populations in Latin America
2016-10-27 - 2016-10-28
Led by Bryce Rudyk and Danielle Spiegel-Feld, the Guarini Center convened a major international conference to explore barriers and opportunities for deploying renewable energy powered microgrids in Latin America. The workshop drew participants from the international development community, including the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, Inter-American Development Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the governments of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, and Uruguay; the United Nations; NGOs, academics; and the renewable energy industry. The workshop, which was hosted in collaboration with Solar City, follows an earlier conference that examined the potential for microgrid deployment in Small Island Developing States.

State Electricity Regulation in the Shadow of Hughes and EPSA
2016-11-14 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Faculty Library, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
1.5 CLE credits in the Areas of Professional Practice category. The credit was both transitional and non-transitional.
Last year, the Supreme Court handed down two major opinions – Electric Power Supply Association v. FERC, and Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing – that provided new guidance on the contours of Federal Power Act and the boundaries of state versus federal authority over the electricity sector. On November 14th, the Guarini Center held a discussion with leading experts to examine the implications of these decisions for innovative state electricity policies such as New York’s Clean Energy Standard and REV.
This event was produced in collaboration with Latham & Watkins LLP.
Speakers:

Michael Gergen (’92), Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
Richard B. Miller (’87), Assistant General Counsel in the Regulatory Services Department, Con Edison
David L. Schwartz, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
Abraham Silverman, Chief Regulatory Counsel for NRG Energy, Inc.
Eleanor Stein, Adjunct Professor, Albany Law School; Expert, America’s Power Plan

Michael Gergen a partner in Latham & Watkins LLP’s Washington, D.C. office, is a member of the Energy Regulatory and Markets Practice as well as the Project Finance Practice.
Mr. Gergen has extensive experience developing practical applications of economics, finance and regulatory law to assist clients involved in the electric, natural gas and other network industries in the United States and internationally. Mr. Gergen represents entities involved in electric generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas transportation, storage and distribution, electric and natural gas marketing and trading, and finance, as well as international governments and financial institutions. Mr. Gergen also assists clients regarding federal and state financing support and incentive programs for clean energy technologies, products and services.
Mr. Gergen has assisted clients on a wide range of transactional, controversy, policy and legislative matters and has represented clients both in commercial negotiations and before various federal and state regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and various state public utility commissions, and numerous federal and state courts and arbitral bodies. Mr. Gergen also has served as an economist for an investor-owned public utility, as well as an economic consultant for a state energy commission.
Mr. Gergen is listed as a leading energy attorney in Who’s Who Legal and in Chambers USA, which describes him as having “developed a positive reputation in the industry as ‘a quick, clever and creative lawyer.’” He has given a variety of speeches on energy regulatory and policy matters. He is a member of the Federal Energy Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Mr. Gergen was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 as a recommended attorney in Energy Law. Mr. Gergen is an Adjunct Professor of Law and is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law.

Richard Miller has held a variety of positions at Con Edison since 1998 overseeing legal and policy issues concerning wholesale electric markets, demand response, energy efficiency and electric and gas operations. He is currently an assistant general counsel in the regulatory services department. From 1998-2003, he was Senior Vice-President for Energy at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (where he oversaw City energy policy). Prior to 1998, he was an energy regulatory attorney for Cohen and Dax in Albany, New York, and a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City. He has written articles on law and energy policy that have been published in the Energy Law Journal and Public Utilities Fortnightly and is a former President of Northeast Energy Bar Association. He is a graduate of Amherst College and New York University School of Law. On a personal note, he lives in New York City and uses a bicycle as his primary form of transportation, bicycling approximately 5000 miles annually.

David Schwartz is a partner in the Finance Department of Latham & Watkins LLP’s Washington, D.C. office. He serves as global Chair of the Energy Regulatory and Markets Practice, is a member of the Project Finance Group, and is Co-chair of the firm’s Global Energy – Power Industry Group. He has extensive experience representing entities involved in electric generation, transmission and distribution, electric and gas marketing and trading, and gas transportation and distribution.
Mr. Schwartz has been active in the formation of the developing electricity markets in the United States; led transactional and regulatory teams in mergers and acquisitions and divestitures of energy companies and assets; litigated contract, rate and transmission access disputes; and drafted federal and state energy legislation. He also has extensive experience in negotiating power purchase and sale agreements, electric transmission agreements, natural gas transportation agreements, energy management agreements, and electric and gas interconnection agreements.
Mr. Schwartz regularly advises clients on energy matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), various state public utility commissions, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Energy (DOE).
Mr. Schwartz is consistently recognized as a top energy attorney in Corporate Counsel Magazine, Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who Legal: Energy, Chambers USA, Chambers Global, and The Legal 500 US, which recently selected him as a “Leading Lawyer” for his transactional energy practice.
Mr. Schwartz is a member of the American Bar Association and has held leadership positions in the Energy Bar Association.
Abraham Silverman, heads the regulatory affairs group and is chief regulatory counsel for NRG Energy, Inc., an independent power producer with over 50 GW of generation nationwide, and one of the largest solar and wind portfolios in the word. NRG, through its various retail affiliates, serves over 3 million retail customers in 16 states. Abe counsels the company on regulatory strategy and compliance issues, and does extensive wholesale and retail market design work in each of the organized markets, as well as in the non-organized markets. Prior to joining NRG in 2008, Abe served at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of General Counsel for over three years, and was an associate at the law firm of Perkins Coie, based in Washington, DC. Abe graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Geology and a B.A. in English, and then received his Juris Doctor from The George Washington University School of Law.

Eleanor Stein is a former Administrator Law Judge with the New York Public Service Commission, and former project manager of its Reforming the Energy Vision initiative. She teaches Law of Climate Change: Domestic & Transnational at Albany Law School and the University at Albany and is now an expert with America’s Power Plan. She served as an Administrative Law Judge at the New York State Public Service Commission from 1994-2014; until November 2015 she was Project Manager for the Commission’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative for a more customer-centered, renewable, and distributed energy future. In 2015 she received a Master of Laws degree with distinction in climate change law and policy from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. She teaches Law of Climate Change: Domestic & Transnational at Albany Law School and the Power Dialog at the University at Albany. While at the NY PSC, she presided over or mediated the Renewable Portfolio Standard (2004), the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (2007) and the Con Edison Resiliency Collaborative (2013-14). Her areas of interest include public policy dispute resolution, mobilizing public participation in energy matters, and climate justice. She is on the Board of EcoViva, a US-based project in solidarity with climate adaptation and sustainability in rural El Salvador. She is an expert with America’s Power Plan.

Environmental Law in the Trump Administration: Where Do “Greens” Go from Here?
2016-11-30 18:00 - 19:15 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Room 212, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Please join NYU Law’s distinguished environmental law faculty for a discussion on the path forward for environmental law and policy during the Trump Administration. All students and alumni are invited to attend.
Register Here
Speakers include:

Richard Revesz, Lawrence King Professor of Law, Dean Emeritus, Director, Institute for Policy Integrity
Bryce Rudyk, Climate Program Director, Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law, Adjunct Professor of Law
Richard Stewart, University Professor, John Edward Sexton Professor of Law, Director, Frank J. Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law
Katrina Wyman, Sarah Herring Sorin Professor of Law, Director, Environmental and Energy Law LLM Program

Richard Revesz is one of the nation’s leading voices in the fields of environmental and regulatory law and policy. His work focuses on the use of cost-benefit analysis in administrative regulation, federalism and environmental regulation, design of liability regimes for environmental protection, and positive political economy analysis of environmental regulation. His book Retaking Rationality: How Cost-Benefit Analysis Can Better Protect the Environment and Our Health (with Michael Livermore ’06, 2008) contends that the economic analysis of law can be used to support a more protective approach to environmental and health policy. In 2008, Revesz co-founded the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law to advocate for regulatory reform before courts, legislatures, and agencies, and to contribute original scholarly research in the environmental and health-and-safety areas. Revesz received a BS summa cum laude from Princeton University, an MS in civil engineering from MIT, and a JD from Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. After judicial clerkships with Chief Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Justice Thurgood Marshall of the US Supreme Court, Revesz joined the NYU School of Law faculty in 1985 and served as dean from 2002 to 2013. Revesz is the director of the American Law Institute, the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Administrative Conference of the United States, and the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Bryce Rudyk was the Executive Director at the Center from 2011 to 2014 and is currently the Climate Program Director. He is also an adjunct professor teaching International Environmental Law, International Environmental Law Clinic, and Global Environmental Governance. For 2014-2016, he is a Senior Legal Advisor to the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations. AOSIS is the negotiating group of the 44 small island developing states around the world.
He has been at the Center since 2009, initially as a Research Fellow and then Director of the Climate Finance Project. His research focuses on the global institutional structure for climate finance and alternative transnational institutions for global climate action. He has an LLM in International Law from NYU Law, a JD from the University of Toronto, and a BSc in Biology from McMaster University. He practiced private international law and was a lobbyist for higher education before moving to international environmental law.
Richard Stewart is recognized as one of the world’s leading scholars in environmental and administrative law. His current research projects include “megaregional” international agreements on regulation, trade, and investment; using law to reform and secure justice in global governance; private and hybrid global regulation; innovative institutional strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and solving the challenge of nuclear waste. Stewart also works on global climate law initiatives and environmental law reform projects in developing countries through the International Environmental Law Clinic and the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law. Students are closely involved in these projects. He is launching a new course on Food Law and Policy.
Before joining the faculty, Stewart served as Byrne Professor of Administrative Law at Harvard Law School and as a member of the faculty of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He has served as assistant attorney general in charge of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the US Department of Justice and chairman of the Environmental Defense Fund. Stewart directs, with NYU School of Law Professor Benedict Kingsbury, a major project on global administrative law that examines and advances mechanisms of transparency, participation, reason giving, and review to meet accountability gaps in global regulatory institutions. He recently published a major book on US nuclear waste law regulation and policy. Stewart serves as Advisory Trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Katrina Wyman Born and raised in Canada, Katrina Wyman has a BA, MA, and LLB from the University of Toronto and an LLM from Yale Law School. Before joining NYU School of Law in 2002, she was a research fellow at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 2001-02. Wyman’s research interests relate primarily to property and natural resources law and policy. She has undertaken case studies of the evolution of emissions trading, and property rights in fisheries and taxi licenses. She also has worked on the Endangered Species Act and the policy and legal responses to the possibility that climate change might prompt large-scale human migration.

The Times They Are A-Changin’: Energy Policy in the Trump Administration
2017-01-24 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, D’Agostino Hall, Lipton Hall, 108 West 3rd Street, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 6:30 – 8:00 pm *Wine and cheese reception to follow*

NYU School of Law
Lipton Hall, D’Agostino Hall
108 West 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
US oil and gas policy may undergo substantial change in the next administration. Federal rules governing methane emissions, the leasing of government lands, exports, and much more could be revised in the coming years. Please join experts from government, academia and industry as they assess the changes that may be in store.
1.5 CLE credits offered in the areas of Professional Practice category. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional.
This event is being produced in collaboration with Vinson & Elkins

Speakers:

Thomas P.J. Cape, Head of Energy Policy Research, Evercore ISI
John Elwood, Partner, Appellate Practice Group, Vinson & Elkins
Jayni Foley Hein, Policy Director, Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law
Robert Seber (Moderator), Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity, Vinson & Elkins
Alexandra Teitz, formerly (as of 1/20/17) Counselor to the Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior; previously Senior Counsel, Environment and Energy/Chief Counsel for Energy and Environment, Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives

Speaker bios:
Thomas P.J. Cape, Head of Energy Policy Research, Evercore ISI
Based in New York, Mr. Cape provides comprehensive research reports and analysis on important energy policy issues driving energy equity and commodities markets, ranging from domestic energy and infrastructure to alternative energy, renewables, and energy tax policy. Mr. Cape also offers clients a range of bespoke policy corporate access opportunities, 1-1 marketing, and energy policy conferences.
Prior to joining Evercore ISI, Mr. Cape led Energy Policy Research at Barclays. In addition, he has held positions at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Goldman Sachs. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, holds a Master’s Degree in International Law from New York University School of Law and is a fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Emerging Leaders in Energy Policy Program.

John Elwood, Partner, Appellate Practice Group, Vinson & Elkins
John, a partner in the firm’s Appellate practice group, has argued nine cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and argued before most federal courts of appeals. He has briefed and argued cases in “a broad cross-section of areas” (Chambers USA, 2013), and has particular experience in the areas of environmental law, the False Claims Act, administrative law, government contracting, and federal criminal law.
John’s work has earned him recognition as one of Washington’s top Supreme Court lawyers (Washingtonian, 2013), as one of “a small group of lawyers” with an “outsized influence at the U.S. Supreme Court” (Reuters, 2014), as one of “the most successful petitioning attorneys” before the Supreme Court between 2012 and 2015 (Villanova Law Review, forthcoming 2016), and as one of the country’s most innovative lawyers (Financial Times, 2014). Chambers USA reports that “[t]he much-admired John Elwood is praised for his advocacy skills” (2013), and describes John as “phenomenal” (2014), a “brilliant writer” (2015), and “a much-loved and widely respected lawyer who is quick on his feet” (2010).
Before joining the firm, John served in senior-level positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Beginning as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, and continuing with the firm, he has briefed more than 20 merits cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and has briefed approximately 135 cases at the certiorari stage. As the senior Deputy in the Office of Legal Counsel, he advised the White House and federal agencies on a range of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues.
Jayni Foley Hein, Policy Director, Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law
Jayni Foley Hein is the policy director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law. She has authored numerous reports and academic articles on natural resources and climate change topics. From 2011 to 2014, she served as Executive Director of UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. Previously, she served as an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP in San Francisco, where her practice focused on environmental and regulatory law. Her writing and commentary has appeared in diverse media outlets including The Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She earned her J.D., Order of the Coif, from UC Berkeley School of Law, and her B.A., with highest distinction, from the University of Virginia.
Robert Seber (Moderator), Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity, Vinson & Elkins
Robert’s principal areas of practice are private equity and privately negotiated mergers and acquisitions. He has represented numerous investment funds and corporate clients in different sectors of the energy industry and a wide spectrum of other industries, including technology and financial services. Robert’s extensive private equity experience covers the full transactional cycle of investment funds, ranging from fund formation to acquisitions, recapitalizations, minority investments, complex equity arrangements, and exits. He teaches classes on “Oil and Gas Law and Governance” and “Energy Deals” at New York University.
Alexandra Teitz, formerly (as of 1/20/17) Counselor to the Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior; previously Senior Counsel, Environment and Energy/Chief Counsel for Energy and Environment, Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives
Alexandra E. Teitz served as Counselor to the Director, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of Interior for the last two years of the Obama Administration, where she worked on climate and regulatory matters. From 2009 through 2014, Alexandra was Senior Counsel and subsequently Chief Counsel for Energy and Environment at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman/Ranking Member Henry Waxman, where she co-led drafting of the Waxman-Markey climate bill. She was Senior Environmental Counsel to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, also under Congressman Waxman’s leadership, from 2001 to 2008. Before going to Congress, Alexandra worked as an air attorney in the EPA’s Office of General Counsel. She is a graduate of Oberlin College, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and University of California Boalt Hall School of Law.

A conversation on Green Buildings with Anthony E. Malkin
2017-02-28 09:00 - 10:00 | NYU School of Law, Furman Hall, Lester Pollack Colloquium, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY, 10012
On February 28th the Guarini Center held a talk about improving building energy efficiency entitled:
“Stop the Greenwashing: A Conversation with Mr. Malkin, Chairman Empire State Realty Trust”
In 2009, Anthony E. Malkin joined former President Bill Clinton and others to announce a pioneering initiative to retrofit a portfolio of properties in New York City, including the Empire State Building. The initiative has been a powerful vehicle for change; at the Empire State Building, energy use has declined nearly 40% since the retrofits were completed all while improving tenant comfort. On February 28th, Anthony Malkin joined us for a discussion about lessons learned during the retrofits of his properties and reforms that are needed to inspire more building owners to implement meaningful energy efficiency improvements. The conversation was moderated by Cecil Scheib, Chief Program Officer at Urban Green Council.
Tuesday, February 28th, 9:00 – 10:00 am
NYU School of Law
Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall
245 Sullivan Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10012
Speakers:

Anthony E. Malkin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Empire State Realty Trust
Cecil Scheib (Moderator), Chief Program Officer at Urban Green Council

Speakers Bios:

Anthony E. Malkin is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Empire State Realty Trust
He joined ESRT’s predecessor entities in 1989. Mr. Malkin has been a leader in existing building energy efficiency retrofits through coordinating the team of Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Controls, JLL, and Rocky Mountain Institute in a groundbreaking project at the Empire State Building (www.esbnyc.com). Mr. Malkin is a board member of the Real Estate Roundtable and Chair of its Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee, a member of the Urban Land Institute, member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York, member of the Partnership of New York City’s Innovation Council, member of the Building Committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, member of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, member of the Advisory Board of MissionPoint Capital Partners, and member of the Advisory Council of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Mr. Malkin received a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Harvard College.

Cecil Scheib, PE, CEM, LEED AP is Chief Program Officer at Urban Green Council.
With 25 years experience spearheading sustainability projects in the built environment, he leads Urban Green’s policy, research, and education initiatives. As Managing Director of the Building Resiliency Task Force for the City of New York, he led an effort to consider how to best rebuild after Hurricane Sandy in order to prepare New York City for future extreme weather events. Previously, he was Director of Energy and Sustainability at New York University, cutting energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 30% in five years. He was the lead author on NYU’s Climate Action Plan and Energy and Water Design Standards for new construction. NYU received AASHE STARS Gold and the highest rating of any institution in the Operations category. Prior to NYU, he founded and lived at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, a growing community of 75 in northeast Missouri with a per capita carbon footprint just 10% of the US average. As seen on Morgan Spurlock’s “30 Days”, Dancing Rabbit is dedicated to innovating sustainable technology and social systems, and he now serves on its Board of Directors. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Stanford University and a Professional Engineer’s license from New York State, and is a Certified Energy Manager and LEED Accredited Professional.

Making Space for a Low-Emissions Future: 80×50 and the Challenge for Transportation
2017-03-20 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Greenberg Lounge, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
New York City’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by the year 2050 provides both a challenge and an opportunity for the world of transportation. What is certain is that in order to reach this goal, New York City will have to dramatically shift away from personal car usage to more sustainable modes.
But in a city of 8.6 million people and counting, where streets have long been designed for private cars instead of people, where do we begin to claim road space for a low- (and no-) emissions future? How can we both incentivize low-emission travel and pursue designs and policies that discourage driving? Low-emissions zones, car-free streets, car-free days, parking reform, and restrictions on high-emission vehicles can all move the needle on climate change as well as influence how we think about street space.
Join us in the run up to Earth Day 2017, which will be the stage for a new trial of car-free streets, for a discussion of how we can make more room on NYC streets for low- and no-emissions travel. We will examine reclaiming space for sustainable transportation through four lenses: the curb, the street, the neighborhood, and the city and discuss the legal framework for implementing these changes.
1.5 CLE credits offered in the areas of Professional Practice category. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional.
Monday, March 20th from 6:30 – 8pm
Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Please register, here
This event is being hosted in collaboration with Transportation Alternatives.

Speakers:

Vishaan Chakrabarti (Moderator), Founder, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism
Frederick Harris (’79), Managing Director, Jonathan Rose Companies
Julia Kite, Policy and Research Manager, Transportation Alternatives
Benjamin Mandel, Renewable Energy Policy Advisor, New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability

Vishaan Chakrabarti is the Founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism. Simultaneously, Vishaan is an Associate Professor of Practice at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation (GSAPP), where he teaches architectural design studios and seminars on urbanism. His highly acclaimed book, A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America (Metropolis Books, 2013), argues that a more urban United States would result in a more prosperous, sustainable, joyous,
and socially mobile nation. Of the book, the Toronto Globe and Mail wrote: “In the world of urbanism and planning, there’s been a barrage of recent books on similar themes…but Mr. Chakrabarti has written maybe the most useful one, a polemic in favor of city living that makes the stakes clear.” Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradlee named A
Country of Cities one of the top ten books of 2013 in the Huffington Post.
Chakrabarti has been a guest on The Charlie Rose show, MSNBC’s The Cycle, NY1, NPR, WNYC, and has been profiled in The New York Times and The Financial Times. Vishaan has lectured widely across Europe, Asia and the Americas. In April, 2014, the New York Times published his Op Ed, “America’s Urban Future.”
From 2012 to 2015, Vishaan was a principal at SHoP Architects where he co-led major architecture and urban design projects including the master plan and first building at the Domino Sugar site in Williamsburg as well as the master plan and first building at the Essex Crossing site at Seward Park, which together bookend the Williamsburg bridge in a new form of mixed use, mixed income urbanism.
From 2009 to 2015, Vishaan also served as the Marc Holliday Professor and Director of the Master of Science in Real Estate Development program at Columbia’s GSAPP. While there he became the founding director of the Center for Urban Real Estate (CURE). Chakrabarti is widely credited for transforming the program into one of the finest programs of its kind by establishing an interdisciplinary mission that focused on the potential role urban development could play in generating groundbreaking design, greater sustainability, and shared economic prosperity.
From 2005 to 2009, Chakrabarti was the president of Moynihan Station Venture, and remains an ardent advocate for the reconstruction of New York’s Pennsylvania Station. In addition, Chakrabarti was the inaugural Jaquelin T. Robertson Visiting Professor in Architecture for the University of Virginia in 2009.
From 2002 to 2005, Chakrabarti served under Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the Director of the Manhattan Office for the New York Department of City Planning, where he successfully collaborated on the now realized efforts to save the High Line, rezone Hudson Yards, extend the #7 subway line, rebuild the East River Waterfront, expand Columbia University, and reincorporate the street grid at the World Trade Center site after the tragic events of 9/11.
Prior to 2002, Vishaan was an Associate Partner at the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LP. There he managed numerous skyscraper projects, including the new headquarters for the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the master plan for Columbia University’s new campus in Manhattanville.
Chakrabarti holds a Master of Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and dual bachelor’s degrees in Art History and Engineering from Cornell University. He is a registered architect in the State of New York.
He serves on the boards of the Architectural League of New York, and the Regional Planning Association. He is a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission, and is an emeritus board member of Friends of the High Line. He is also a member of the Young Leaders Forum of the National Council on US-China Relations and has served on the National Mayor’s Institute of City Design. Metropolis Magazine named Chakrabarti one of the top 12 “Game Changers” for 2012, he is a former Crain’s “40 Under 40” and David Rockefeller Fellow. Chakrabarti and his family live in Manhattan, where his spouse Maria Alataris is also a practicing architect.

Fred Harris, Managing Director, Development Practice Group. Fred Harris was named Managing Director for Real Estate Development of Jonathan Rose Companies in 2016. Mr. Harris is responsible for directing the expansion and diversification of the Companies’ nationwide development portfolio.
Prior to joining Jonathan Rose Companies, Mr. Harris, as Senior Vice President, directed real estate development activities for AvalonBay Communities’ New York region for over 13 years. During that time, he oversaw development of $2 billion of new apartments in New York City, Westchester and Long Island—primarily in dense urban settings. His work was widely hailed and AvalonBay and Mr. Harris received numerous awards including University Settlement’s Charles Stover Award, Phipps Houses’ Community Builder Award, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s Spirit of the City Award and BOMA’s Developer of the Year.
Mr. Harris then served as the Executive Vice President for Real Estate Development at the NYC Housing Authority for a little over two years. He directed the offering of sites for the construction of over 4000 new mixed income apartments and his efforts have sparked a nationwide discussion about the future of public housing in New York and elsewhere.
Prior to joining AvalonBay, he oversaw the development of the first building of the master-planned community of Queens West, across the East River from 42nd Street in Manhattan.
Previously, he directed Real Estate for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where he oversaw annual revenues in excess of $60 million, developed a new headquarters building for the NYC Transit Authority, conducted some of the largest dispositions of Real Estate in New York City, assembled a blockfront of Madison Avenue in midtown, began the restoration and redevelopment of Grand Central Terminal.
Mr. Harris currently serves on the Board of Advisors of the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy and the Moelis Institute for Affordable Housing Policy. He was a Governor of the Real Estate Board of New York, New York Board member of the Trust for Public Land, a Trustee of Brooklyn Hospital and an adjunct Professor at Columbia University.
Julia Kite is the Policy and Research Manager at Transportation Alternatives, New York City’s advocates for biking, walking, and safer streets. As part of TransAlt’s mission to reclaim streets for all New Yorkers and to advocate for initiatives that bring the city closer to achieving Vision Zero, she guides the organization’s evidence-based policy initiatives and undertakes research on topics including automated enforcement, safe street redesign, and cycling expansion. She leads a working group on maximizing public space as part of Streets Renaissance 2.0, a new project to transform transportation, design, and street management policies in New York City. Prior to joining TransAlt, she worked as a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute in London. Julia holds an MA from UC-Berkeley, an MSc with Distinction from the London School of Economics, and a BA from Columbia University.
Benjamin Mandel is the Renewable Energy Policy Advisor at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. In this role, Ben represents the Mayor’s Office in the development of programs and policies to decarbonize New York City’s electricity supply, including accelerating the penetration of distributed energy resources and facilitating generation from large-scale low-carbon sources. Ben also leads the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability’s efforts on vehicle electrification and worked with other City stakeholders to develop NYC Clean Fleet, a comprehensive sustainability plan for the City’s municipal vehicle fleet. Prior to joining the City of New York, Ben completed a fellowship in the Guarini Center at NYU School of Law, where he wrote policy papers on regulatory mechanisms to align incentives for electric utilities with public policy goals. Ben has also previously worked as an Assistant Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Ben holds Masters degrees in Public Policy and Energy & Resources from UC-Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.

Expanding Green Roofs in NYC: A Dialogue with the City of Copenhagen
2017-04-20 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Furman Hall, Lester Pollack Colloquium, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY, 10012
Green roofs promote a number of New York City’s environmental policy goals. They can cut a building’s electricity demand, filter harmful urban air pollutants including asthma-inducing particulate matter, provide disadvantaged communities with access to green space, and significantly reduce storm water runoff. Yet, despite their great potential, green roofs are still few and far between in New York. As City policymakers and private actors contemplate the path forward on green roofs, they could benefit from dialogue with individuals from the City of Copenhagen, which was the first Scandinavian city to adopt a mandatory green roof policy. This upcoming event will provide a forum for just such a dialogue. Key questions to be examined include the decision-making process that led Copenhagen to adopt a green roof mandate, the challenges that have been encountered since then, and the extent of the potential for green roof development in New York City. We’ll also examine early experiences with green roofs in New York City and policy reforms that could effectively encourage their proliferation.
Thursday, April 20th, 6:30 – 8:00pm
NYU School of Law
Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall (9th floor)
245 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012
Please register, here
1 CLE credit offered in the areas of Professional Practice category. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional.
Speakers include:
Opening presentations:

Herbert Dreiseitl, Director, Livable Cities Lab, Ramboll
Mette Skjold, Partner and CEO, SLA

Panel discussion:

Rebecca Bratspies, (Moderator) Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law; Director, Center for Urban Environmental Reform
Jacob Larsen, Director, Climate Change, Water management, Urban drainage, Infrastructure, Orbicon
Lykke Leonardsen, Head of Resilient and Sustainable City Solutions, City of Copenhagen
Max Lerner, Sustainability Project Development Coordinator, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
Alan Steel, CEO, Javits Center

This is event is being hosted in collaboration with the Danish Cleantech Hub.

Speaker bios:
Rebecca Bratspies is a Professor of Law at the CUNY School of Law and Director of the CUNY Center for Urban Environmental Reform. Her scholarly research focuses the transnational dimensions of environmental regulation. She has published widely on questions of environmental democracy, food policy, and human rights. Professor Bratspies serves on EPA’s Children’s Environmental Health Protection Advisory Committee, and is a member-scholar with the Center for Progressive Reform, and with the Environmental Law Collective. She has served on the ABA Standing Committee on Environmental Law, and as an advisor to the CGIAR. She is past Chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on the Environment.
With artist Charlie LaGreca, Professor Bratspies created Mayah’s Lot, an environmental justice comic-book. Mayah’s Lot has been used in classrooms around the country, adopted by state environmental agencies, and made into a video. The book is freely available online. The sequel to Mayah’s Lot will be published in Fall 2016.
Herbert Dreiseitl is an urban designer, landscape architect, water artist, interdisciplinary planner and Professor in Praxis. He is an international expert in creating livable cities around the world with a special hallmark on the inspiring and innovative use of water to solve urban environmental challenges, connecting technology with aesthetics, encouraging people to take care and ownership for places. As the Director of the “Liveable Cities Lab”, the new think tank at the Ramboll Group International (LCL) and as founder of Atelier Dreiseitl, Herbert integrates the organization´s strategic design and planning efforts by demonstrating a portfolio of site-responsive interventions of urban planning, hydrology and environmental engineering.
Jacob Larsen is Director at Orbicon and Chairman of the Environment and Climate Committee of the Danish Association of Consulting Engineers, where he works with current trade political issues on behalf of the whole industry including dialogues with political decision-makers at ministerial level. Mr. Larsen has an engineering degree in wastewater and stormwater solutions from the Technical University of Denmark and specializes in climate change adaptation, strategic planning, business development, project management, IT solutions, Urban drainage, and Infrastructure. He is a board member at the Danish Water Forum.
Lykke Leonardsen has worked with urban development for the past 25 years in Copenhagen. This includes local regeneration projects, international urban policies and communication.
Since 2008 she has worked for the Technical and Environmental Administration in charge of making Copenhagen more blue and green – in charge of water management and green infrastructure planning. It was as part of this work that the Climate Change Adaptation plan was developed.
Since June 2016 she is Head of program for Resilient and Sustainable City Solutions, and before that Head of the Climate Unit, in charge of the Climate Change Adaptation program, and the city’s ambitious plan to be the first carbon neutral capital of the world before 2025.
Ms. Leonardsen has a Master in Near Eastern Archaeology and Master of Public Policy.
Max Lerner manages a team of visionaries tasked with the ever-evolving goal of designing new and intrepid ways to optimize NYC Parks urban stewardship through the dynamic application of emerging technology and sustainable best practices. His teams rigorous research into piloting new projects in their facilities living laboratory allows them to model, review and actively shape the landscape of New York to ensure our incredible city has a sustainable future.
Mette Skjold is partner and CEO at SLA. With more than 15 years of experience as a leader of sustainable urban planning and development projects, Ms. Skjold has vast experience in leading complex processes with multidisciplinary teams solving some of today’s hardest urban problems. Besides being trained as an architect, Ms. Skjold holds an international master degree in leadership and innovation. Before joining SLA in 2010, Ms. Skjold was associated partner at Henning Larsen Architects where she in 2004 was one of two lead designers behind the Olympic City in New York’s bid for the 2012 Olympics. Ms. Skjold thus has intimate knowledge of working with New York City stakeholders from city officials to local residents and businesses.
Alan Steel is the President & Chief Executive Officer of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation, which operates the Javits Center. Under Mr. Steel ‘s leadership, the Javits Center underwent a comprehensive renovation including significant investments in technology and sustainable improvements. Mr. Steel has spent more than 30 years as an event management executive and United Kingdom trade development official. He is the former President of George Little Management (GLM), a major producer of trade shows in the United States and Canada, where he was responsible for the creation of new events, oversight of corporate strategic planning, marketing programs and the direction for various company events including NY NOW (formerly New York International Gift Fair), the National Stationery Show, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and SURTEX. Mr. Steel was also active in developing domestic and international markets for the company. Before joining GLM in 1982, Mr. Steel worked for more than 15 years with the British government in a number of trade-related positions at the Department of Trade and Industry in London, the British Consulate in Chicago and the British Trade Development Office in New York. In these roles, Alan bought and sold exhibit space to participants in trade and consumer shows, conferences, and special events. In 2014, Mr. Steel was awarded with the King’s Glove award by the International Association of Exhibitors and Events (IAEE) for his enriched contributions to the trade show industry in New York and beyond.

The Generator’s Perspective: The Outlook for Coal, Gas, and Nuclear Power Under Trump
2017-05-02 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Greenberg Lounge, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Thursday, May 2nd, 6:30-8:00pm
NYU School of Law
Greenberg Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Please register, here
1.5 CLE credits offered in the areas of Professional Practice category. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional.
Join the Guarini Center for a panel discussion with energy industry experts on the legal, regulatory and market factors affecting the outlook for coal and gas fired generation.
The speakers are:

Catherine Callaway James, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Dynegy
Robert Mancini (’84), Managing Director & Co-Head of CPP-II, The Carlyle Group
Zamir Rauf, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Calpine Corp.
Gary Rygh, Managing Director, Barclays
Michael Shenberg (’85), Partner, White and Case LLP

*The event is strictly off the record and closed to press.*
This is event is being hosted in collaboration with White and Case LLP.
Catherine Callaway James has held the position of Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Dynegy Inc. since September 2011. Ms. Callaway leads Dynegy’s Legal, Ethics and Compliance, NERC and Contract Administration functions. Dynegy is a premiere U.S. independent power producer that generates reliable, environmentally responsible and low-cost energy throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Texas and the West Coast. Dynegy’s 50 facilities generate more than 31,000 megawatts – enough to power about 25 million U.S. homes and are nearly two-thirds fueled by natural gas. Dynegy serves residential, municipal, business and industrial customers in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania through its retail brands, Dynegy and Homefield Energy. Ms. James has been advising energy companies on legal matters for 25 years. Prior to joining Dynegy, she was General Counsel of Reliant Energy and the Gulf Coast Region of NRG Energy and prior to that she held various legal positions with Calpine Corporation, Reliant Resources, Coastal Power and Chevron. Ms. James earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas.
Robert (“Bob”) Mancini is a Managing Director and Co‐Head of CPP II. Mr. Mancini serves as Chairman of the Board of Cogentrix. Mr. Mancini is based in New York.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Mancini was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he spent nearly twenty years. Most recently Mr. Mancini led the firm’s on‐balance sheet power asset business through Goldman’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cogentrix Energy LLC, where he was CEO. Mr. Mancini was instrumental in Goldman’s entry into the power asset business in 2003. Prior to 2003 Mr. Mancini was a member of the legal department where he eventually became the Deputy General Counsel of the Securities Division. Prior to joining Goldman, Mr. Mancini spent ten years in private practice as a lawyer with Debevoise and Plimpton, where he established that firm’s derivatives practice.
Mr. Mancini received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1984, where he was a member of the Law Review, and received his B.A. degree from Binghamton University in 1980, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Zamir Rauf has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since December 2008. Mr. Rauf previously was interim Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer from June 2008 to December 2008. Prior to his role as Interim CFO, Mr. Rauf was Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer at Calpine. In that position, he had responsibility for Calpine’s corporate and project finance, treasury and debt compliance functions and managed the corporate banking, investment banking and rating agency relationships. Prior to Calpine, Mr. Rauf held various accounting and finance roles with Enron North America and Dynegy Inc., as well as Comerica Bank in both credit and lending roles. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in business and commerce and master’s degree in business administration-finance from the University of Houston.
Gary Rygh is a Managing Director within the Power and Utilities Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Barclays, based in New York. The team is responsible for strategic advisory assignments in the power and utility sector. Mr. Rygh has over 20 years experience in investment banking and M&A, predominantly in the power and utility sector. Mr. Rygh joined Barclays Capital in September 2008 from Lehman Brothers. Prior to that, he worked at Morgan Stanley.
Mr. Rygh graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia.
Michael Shenberg is a partner in the Firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group in the New York office. A recognized leader in his field, he focuses on energy M&A, capital markets and financing transactions for the Firm. Mr. Shenberg has represented financial and strategic investors in numerous transactions involving the purchase or sale of energy assets, including large portfolios, single-asset deals and joint ventures. Additionally, he advises on financings including restructurings, and corporate and commercial matters for energy company clients.

Carbon Pricing: Yes. But How?
2017-09-20 17:00 - 18:30 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Snow Dining Room, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Wednesday, September 20, 5:00-6:30pm
NYU School of Law
Snow Dining Room, 4th Floor
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
REGISTER HERE

Carbon pricing has an important role to play in providing a broad signal to shift the world’s economies in order to reach the objectives of the Paris Agreement. A recent report of the High Level Commission on Carbon Prices highlights the need for carbon prices of at least US$40–80/tCO2 by 2020 and US$50–100/tCO2 by 2030. The next question is how?
Internationally, the carbon pricing community includes advocates for taxes, fees and dividends, carbon markets both linked and independent. During NY Climate Week, Carbon Market Watch and New York University are pleased to invite the climate community for a conversation not only whether to price carbon but also how – both domestically and internationally.
The panel will include:
Jessica Green, NYU Environmental Studies
Barbara Haya, UC Berkeley, Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute
Aki Kachi, Carbon Market Watch
Charles Komanoff, Carbon Tax Center
This event is co-hosted by the NYU Environmental Studies Department and Carbon Market Watch.

We’ll Always Have Paris . . . Right?
2017-09-21 18:00 - 19:30 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Faculty Library, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Thursday, September 21, 6:00-7:30pm
NYU School of Law
Vanderbilt Hall 214
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
REGISTER HERE

Although the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed in 2015 and came into force in 2017, it was only a shell of an agreement. Many details and rules remain to be worked out to ensure that the promise of the Paris Agreement is realized. The United States was a significant force in the adoption of the Paris Agreement under the Obama Administration, but now the Trump Administration has signaled its intent to withdraw. What does this mean for the full development of the Agreement? Will new international players step into the void potentially left by the US? Will we be able to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement without the US?
The panel will include:
Susan Biniaz – Former Lead Climate Lawyer, U.S. State Department
Ambassador Janine Felson – Permanent Mission of Belize to the UN (tbc)
Ambassador Ronnie Jumeau – Seychelles Climate Ambassador (tbc)
Nat Keohane – Vice President, Environmental Defense Fund; Adjunct Professor of Law, NYU
Michael Oppenheimer – Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton

This event is co-hosted by the NYU Environmental Studies Department.

Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform and the WTO
2017-09-22 18:00 - 19:30 | NYU School of Law, Furman Hall, Lester Pollack Colloquium, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY, 10012
Disciplining Fossil Fuel Subsidies for Climate Mitigation and SDGs: A Job for the Trade System?

Friday, September 22, 6:00-7:30pm
NYU School of Law
Pollack Colloquium Room, 9th Floor
245 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012

Recent studies estimate fossil fuel subsidies to $5.3 trillion or 6.5 % of global GDP. Such subsidies are associated with a range of negative effects. Importantly, they boost greenhouse gas emissions and hence further spur climate change- without these subsidies, global carbon emissions would have been reduced by 21% in 2015.
Several political developments over the past few years show an increasing recognition of the need to put an end to these perverse subsidies. The G20 declared in 2009 their intention to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. In 2015, the UN’s Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on climate change, both make reference to the issue. However, it has proven difficult to move from high level declarations into real action on the ground. Therefore, there is a need to take a fresh look at the issue, and to consider all options on the table for making progress.
Trade policy, and more precisely the World Trade Organization, WTO, could play an important role in this regard. Indeed, the WTO-system is based on binding commitments and contains a mechanism for enforcement and compliance, contrary to the G20 and the UNFCCC. Making use of this might allow for the necessary shift from best endeavour to actual implementation. Moreover, it already has tools in place for notification and for review. It even has a subsidy agreement, the ASCM, as well as sectoral agreements applying to subsidies, such as the agreement on agriculture.
WTO members are indeed increasingly aware of the need to upgrade the system so that it is better adapted to the challenges of the 21st century. The upcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires is therefore a timely opportunity to consider new issues in the sustainable development realm, and to put them on the agenda of the WTO for concrete action.

This event was co-hosted by the Institute for International Law and Justice (IILJ) and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).

Greening New York City’s Homes: A Transatlantic Dialogue with Baden-Württemberg
2017-10-02 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Faculty Library, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
The Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law hosted an event entitled, “Greening New York City’s Homes: A Transatlantic Dialogue with Baden-Wurttemberg.”
1 CLE credit in the Areas of Professional Practice category

Keynote address:
Franz Untersteller, Minister of the Environment, Climate Protection and Energy Sector, Baden-Württemberg
As the Trump Administration rolls back federal environmental regulation, New York City’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80 percent by 2050 have become all the more essential. And while the City has begun implementing policies to advance its climate goals, much more is needed. Of particular note, the City has enacted relatively few policies targeting energy efficiency improvements in small residential buildings, which account for roughly 20% of the sector’s GHG emissions. As local policymakers contemplate policy options for the path forward for these properties, they would benefit from dialogue with counterparts in Germany about strategies that have been experimented with there. The event facilitated the needed dialogue, focusing on policies that have been implemented in a leading German jurisdiction – Baden-Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg has enacted a legally binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by the year 2050 and has devised a number of innovative policies for the building sector to help achieve that end. At the event, we discussed these programs and their relevance for New York City. We also reviewed the current regulations governing building energy use in New York City and proposals for new legislation.
Discussion:
John Lee, Deputy Director for Green Buildings and Energy Efficiency, New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
Danielle Spiegel-Feld, ’10, Adjunct Professor and Executive Director, Guarini Center
Richard Yancey, Executive Director, Building Energy Exchange

This event has been made possible through the generous support of the the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Transatlantic Climate Bridge.

Speaker biographies:
Franz Untersteller, Minister of the Environment, Climate Protection and Energy Sector, was born on 4 April 1957 in Saarland. After graduating from the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Science with a degree in Landscape Planning in 1982 he initially worked for the Öko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology). From 1983 he was parliamentary advisor to the Green Parliamentary Group in the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament before being elected to the Parliament himself in 2006. From 2006 to 2011 he also acted as deputy chairman of the Green Parliamentary Group.
Franz Untersteller has been Minister of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector in Baden-Württemberg since 2011.
John Lee is the Deputy Director for Green Buildings and Energy Efficiency at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. In this capacity, he is leading the city’s policy and legislative efforts driving the built environment to unprecedented energy efficiency standards towards the City’s ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by year 2050. John’s previous public sector service was with the NYC Department of Buildings as Senior Architect in the codes development division and with the Department of City Planning where he served as an Urban Designer. During his early career, John was Art Director for a web development firm consulting to a suite of clients in the energy sector and was also a design architect in private sector architecture firms working on institutional buildings, transit facilities, and master plans for universities. He is a licensed architect and a graduate of Rice University and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Richard C. Yancey, AIA, LEED AP, is the founding Executive Director of the Building Energy Exchange, Inc. (BEEx), an independent, nonprofit organization that connects the New York real estate and design communities to energy and lighting efficiency solutions through education, exhibitions, technology demonstrations, and research, at their resource center in downtown Manhattan.
The work of BEEx has been featured widely, including the Wall Street Journal, Crain’s, Capital New York, and NY1; and Richard was named one of the Top Ten New York Energy Entrepreneurs (2015), and Top Ten Cleantech Leaders of New York (2013), by Breaking Energy.
Prior to BEEx, Richard has over twenty years of experience as an practicing architect, in Seattle and New York, leading a diverse array of commercial, institutional, and residential projects. He has lectured and published widely, and sits on the the New York City Mayor’s Climate Action Plan Technical Working Group. Richard received his Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Incorporating State Public Policy Goals in Wholesale Electricity Markets
2017-10-16 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Furman Hall, Lester Pollack Colloquium, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY, 10012
The Guarini Center and a group of leading energy policy experts discussed “Incorporating State Public Policy Goals in Wholesale Electricity Markets.” Panelists examined a range of policy options for advancing state objectives, including transitioning towards low-carbon generation resources, and intersections with federal law.
1.5 CLE credits offered in the areas of Professional Practice category. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional.

The speakers:
Michael Gergen (’92), Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP and Adjunct Professor of Law, NYU Law (introductory remarks)
Jane Quin, Director, Energy Markets Policy Group, Con Edison
David Schwartz, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP (moderator)
Abraham Silverman, Assistant General Counsel, NRG Energy
Scott Weiner, Deputy for Markets and Innovation, New York State Department of Public Service

This event was sponsored by Latham & Watkins LLP.

Speaker bios:
Michael Gergen (’92), a partner in Latham & Watkins LLP’s Washington, D.C. office, is a member of the Energy Regulatory and Markets Practice as well as the Project Finance Practice.
Mr. Gergen has extensive experience developing practical applications of economics, finance and regulatory law to assist clients involved in the electric, natural gas and other network industries in the United States and internationally. Mr. Gergen represents entities involved in electric generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas transportation, storage and distribution, electric and natural gas marketing and trading, and finance, as well as international governments and financial institutions. Mr. Gergen also assists clients regarding federal and state financing support and incentive programs for clean energy technologies, products and services.
Mr. Gergen has assisted clients on a wide range of transactional, controversy, policy and legislative matters and has represented clients both in commercial negotiations and before various federal and state regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and various state public utility commissions, and numerous federal and state courts and arbitral bodies. Mr. Gergen also has served as an economist for an investor-owned public utility, as well as an economic consultant for a state energy commission.
Mr. Gergen is listed as a leading energy attorney in Who’s Who Legal and in Chambers USA, which describes him as having “developed a positive reputation in the industry as ‘a quick, clever and creative lawyer.’” He has given a variety of speeches on energy regulatory and policy matters. He is a member of the Federal Energy Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Mr. Gergen was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 as a recommended attorney in Energy Law. Mr. Gergen is an Adjunct Professor of Law and is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law.
David Schwartz, is a partner in the Finance Department of Latham & Watkins LLP’s Washington, D.C. office. He serves as global Chair of the Energy Regulatory and Markets Practice, is a member of the Project Finance Group, and is Co-chair of the firm’s Global Energy – Power Industry Group. He has extensive experience representing entities involved in electric generation, transmission and distribution, electric and gas marketing and trading, and gas transportation and distribution.
Mr. Schwartz has been active in the formation of the developing electricity markets in the United States; led transactional and regulatory teams in mergers and acquisitions and divestitures of energy companies and assets; litigated contract, rate and transmission access disputes; and drafted federal and state energy legislation. He also has extensive experience in negotiating power purchase and sale agreements, electric transmission agreements, natural gas transportation agreements, energy management agreements, and electric and gas interconnection agreements.
Mr. Schwartz regularly advises clients on energy matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), various state public utility commissions, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Energy (DOE).
Mr. Schwartz is consistently recognized as a top energy attorney in Corporate Counsel Magazine, Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who Legal: Energy, Chambers USA, Chambers Global, and The Legal 500 US, which recently selected him as a “Leading Lawyer” for his transactional energy practice.
Mr. Schwartz is a member of the American Bar Association and has held leadership positions in the Energy Bar Association.
Abraham Silverman, heads the regulatory affairs group and is chief regulatory counsel for NRG Energy, Inc., an independent power producer with over 50 GW of generation nationwide, and one of the largest solar and wind portfolios in the word. NRG, through its various retail affiliates, serves over 3 million retail customers in 16 states. Abe counsels the company on regulatory strategy and compliance issues, and does extensive wholesale and retail market design work in each of the organized markets, as well as in the non-organized markets. Prior to joining NRG in 2008, Abe served at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of General Counsel for over three years, and was an associate at the law firm of Perkins Coie, based in Washington, DC. Abe graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Geology and a B.A. in English, and then received his Juris Doctor from The George Washington University School of Law.

Scott Weiner is the Deputy for Markets and Innovation at the New York State Department of Public Service, which has a broad mandate to ensure access to safe, reliable utility service at just and reasonable rates. In this role, Scott is responsible for leading the Department’s staff activities in support of New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative. Scott joined the Department after a distinguished career as an executive, educator and public official.
Scott has also served as a senior executive in a number of private and public corporations including as President of Ballard Generation Systems, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Petra Solar, Senior Vice President for Market Structure and Regulatory Affairs at Sithe Energies and Vice President for Corporate Development at General Public Utilities. Mr. Weiner has previously served on the board of many industry associations and non-governmental organizations including as Chair of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Electric Power Supply Association, the National Hydrogen Association and the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas.
Scott has served in a number of senior positions in New Jersey government. These include appointments as the Executive Director of the N.J. Election Law Enforcement Commission, President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Commissioner of the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Chief Counsel to former New Jersey Governor Jim Florio and as a Special Assistant Attorney General and Special Counsel to former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. He also served as a Borough Councilman and as President of the Borough Council in Fort Lee, NJ.
Scott is the founding Director of the Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy at Rutgers University and has served as a Senior Policy Fellow and Faculty Fellow at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

Clean, Resilient Power for Caribbean States
2017-10-31
On October 31st, the Guarini Center hosted an event in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as well as Tesla Inc., to examine opportunities and obstacles to deploying renewable energy powered microgrids in the Caribbean region. The workshop brought together experts from international development organizations, non-profit institutions, academia, Tesla, and the governments of four Caribbean states. An agenda for the workshop can be found here.

Tackling Traffic: Options for Reducing Vehicular Traffic & Emissions in NYC
2017-11-07 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Furman Hall, Lester Pollack Colloquium, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY, 10012
The Guarini Center and the NYU Environmental Law Journal hosted an event entitled, “Tackling Traffic: Options for Reducing Vehicular Traffic and Emissions on New York City Streets.”
As New York City’s subway system continues to be in crisis, many have questioned how transportation can be improved in order to get commuters moving as efficiently as possible. In 2008, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg suggested a congestion pricing scheme, aimed at easing traffic and raising money for the city’s aging infrastructure, which never made it to a vote. In August 2017, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the “time has come” for resurrecting a congestion pricing scheme and creating a proposal substantially different from Bloomberg’s. Locally, Move NY, a grassroots campaign seeking to build support for a master transportation plan for the New York metropolitan area, has released its own proposal — the Move NY Fair Plan, focusing on providing toll equity, reducing congestion, boosting the regional economy, and raising signficant revenues for high-priority road, bridge, and transit projects.
This event facilitated the needed dialogue concerning vehicular traffic and the public health consequences of vehicular emissions, as well as the possible outlets toward reducing them, including congestion pricing and so-called low emission zones. We looked at this issue through many lenses, including: legal, environmental, political and economic.
Moderator:
Katrina Wyman, Sarah Herring Sorin Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
Speakers:
Ashwini Chhabra, Head of Policy Development, Uber
Iyad Kheirbek, Director of Air Quality Program, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Sam Schwartz, President, CEO & Founder, Sam Schwartz Engineering
Elizabeth Stein, Senior Manager of New York Clean Energy Law & Policy Program, Environmental Defense Fund

Building Energy Disclosure: Policy Trends and Market Impacts
2017-11-13 08:30 - 09:45 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Snow Dining Room, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
The Guarini Center and a group of leading experts had a discussion on “Building Energy Disclosure: Policy Trends and Market Impacts.”
In 2009, New York City enacted a pioneering energy disclosure policy, Local Law 84, which requires large buildings to submit annual energy benchmarking data. Today, a number of stakeholders have begun to consider how Local Law 84 might be updated and the City Council introduced legislation on the subject this past summer. At this upcoming breakfast meeting, leading industry experts will consider the impact that energy disclosure regulations in New York City and elsewhere have had and how these policies may be reformed.

The speakers:
Daniel Egan, Vice President, Head of Sustainability and Utilities, Vornado Realty Trust
Helen Gurfel, Executive Director, Urban Land Institute Greenprint Center for Building Performance
Brad A. Molotsky, Partner, LEED AP-OM, Duane Morris LLP
Dana Schneider, Managing Director, JLL

This event is hosted in collaboration with:

Speakers biographies:

Daniel Egan is Vice President of Sustainability and Utilities for Vornado Realty Trust. Dan’s sustainability program combines environmental, fiscal and social responsibility for Vornado’s national real estate portfolio.
Special projects under Dan’s jurisdiction include all LEED and Energy Star affiliated programs, and he also acts as Vornado’s advocate in New York for all NYSERDA and Con Edison energy incentive programs. Of particular importance is Dan’s managing of Vornado’s Energy Efficiency Capital Improvement fund, which executes projects with measurable energy reduction targets. The projects are part of a retrofit cycle for Vornado’s existing portfolio that includes energy audits and retrocommissioning, third party design and validation of retrofit projects, project management, and measurement and verification.
Another part of Dan’s role focuses on Vornado’s response to emerging trends in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) for the real estate industry. These ESG trends include topics in occupant health and indoor environmental quality, securing corporate debt in the form of green bonds, and the growing interest from the investor base in the management of Vornado’s carbon footprint.
Dan serves on the boards of the Building Energy Exchange, REBNY Sustainability Committee and is co-President of the New York Energy Consumers Council in NYC. He is also an active member of the GRESB Benchmark Committee and the Real Estate Roundtable’s Sustainable Policy Advisory Committee.

Helen Gurfel is the executive director of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance. Greenprint is an alliance of leading real estate owners, investors, and strategic partners committed to improving the environmental performance of the global real estate industry. As the executive director, she is responsible for the overall management and growth of the center.
Helen was most recently a director of GE Capital Real Estate’s global sustainability group, where she spearheaded a number of initiatives, including development of sustainability programs for GE’s portfolios in France, Canada, and the U.K., establishment of a rooftop solar program to deploy solar installations across properties in North America and the U.K., and incorporation of innovative technologies into GE-owned properties. She was also a member of GE Capital Real Estate’s global valuation team and GE Energy Financial Services’ portfolio management team. Previously, she was a principal consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Helen received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Columbia University, an MBA from the Wharton School, and a masters in international studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Brad A. Molotsky practices in the area of real estate law. Mr. Molotsky’s primary practice is focused in the areas of commercial leasing, acquisitions and divestitures, property management, financing and real estate joint ventures (including mixed-use development). He also has deep experience in board governance and managing public company issues such as enterprise risk, internal audit, compensation, proxy statement preparation and review, as well as energy efficiency and sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
Prior to joining Duane Morris and for nearly 20 years, Brad served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Brandywine Realty Trust. At Brandywine, Mr. Molotsky was responsible for all legal operations of the company, including acquisitions and divestitures, financings, joint ventures, board matters, insurance procurement, litigation oversight, SEC filing oversight and the legal aspects of capital raising. During his tenure, the company grew from 40 buildings to approximately 300 buildings, totaling 28 million square feet
Mr. Molotsky was named general counsel of the year by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2014 and NJBIZ in 2013 and was awarded the Martin Luther King Community Service award in 2014.
Mr. Molotsky is a 1989 cum laude graduate of Villanova University Law School, where he was Order of the Coif, and also earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Villanova University. He is a 1986 cum laude graduate of the University of Delaware. Mr. Molotsky has also earned his LEED AP O+M certification. He also has earned an AV Preeminent® peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell®.

Dana Schneider leads JLL’s Energy and Sustainability Projects team nationally and heads the Northeast division in a region anchored by New York City, Boston, and Washington DC. Her focus is on energy performance optimization as well as the development and implementation of energy and sustainability programs for a broad range of clients and project types. She specializes in comprehensive energy and sustainability programs and associated ROI; and LEED and WELL certification for new buildings, existing building retrofits, and portfolios as well as commercial interiors. Ms. Schneider joined JLL in January 2002.
Ms. Schneider led the whole-building energy retrofit of the Empire State Building and achieved LEED EBOM Gold certification for the most famous office building in the world in 2011. This major initiative uses a groundbreaking analytical model for maximizing energy and environmental value per dollar spent, which she was instrumental in developing. Ms. Schneider has replicated this energy optimization process in dozens of projects across the U.S. In addition to her continuing innovative sustainability performance optimization work at the Empire State Building, she manages energy and sustainability aspects of commercial office, mixed use, convention center, entertainment/hospitality, schools, and mission critical facilities across the country and has led energy and sustainability assignments at over 80 million square feet of properties and hundreds of projects in the Northeast alone.

Wind Energy: The Art of Coping with Uncertainty
2018-01-17 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Greenberg Lounge, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Please join the Guarini Center and a group of leading energy policy experts for a discussion on “Wind Energy: The Art of Coping with Uncertainty.”
Not only the wind is uncertain. The recently enacted tax reform is again alter the economics of renewable energy. How is an industry benefitting from tax credits coping with political uncertainty? When will it reach tax independence? Key players in a recent large private equity investment in wind energy and other industry experts will discuss these questions and assess the state and prospects of wind energy.
1.5 CLE credits offered in the Areas of Professional Practice category.

Speakers include:
Daniel Elkort, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Pattern Energy
Maggie Lemmerman, Director, Federal Legislative and Political Affairs, American Wind Energy Association
Alfredo Marti, Managing Director, Riverstone Holdings
Debra Duncan, Counsel, Vinson & Elkins
Robert Seber, Partner, Vinson & Elkins (Moderator)
This event is hosted in collaboration with Vinson & Elkins LLP

Speakers biographies:
Daniel Elkort
Prior to joining Pattern Energy, Mr. Elkort served as Director of Legal Services and Co-Head of Finance of PEG LP since June 2009. Prior to joining PEG LP, from 1996 to 2009, Mr. Elkort was responsible for managing the various project financings of Babcock & Brown’s North American renewable energy projects and served as the senior legal officer in Babcock & Brown’s North American Infrastructure Group. Before joining Babcock & Brown, from 1985 to 1996, Mr. Elkort was employed by the San Francisco based law firm of Jackson, Tufts, Cole & Black, where he was made a partner in 1991.
Maggie Lemmerman
Maggie Lemmerman is the Director of Federal Legislative and Political Affairs at the American Wind Energy Association. In this role she conducts much of AWEA’s Capitol Hill engagement on behalf of the association’s membership of over one thousand companies. Additionally, Maggie oversees the wind industry’s strategic political giving. Prior to AWEA, she worked at the British Embassy in Washington as a Senior Policy Advisor for transatlantic energy issues, with a focus on offshore wind development. Maggie spent five years on Capitol Hill, working first for her hometown Congressman, Curt Weldon (R-PA) and later for Senator John Boozman (R-AR) on a variety of legislative issues, including energy and international affairs. Maggie hails from Media, Pennsylvania and graduated with her bachelors in Political Science from Columbia University.
Alfredo Marti
Prior to joining Riverstone in 2008, Mr. Marti served in various leadership positions at BP plc, one of the world’s largest energy firms, including leading the organization responsible for overseeing the financial and operational performance and capital allocation of BP’s exploration and production businesses worldwide. Other roles at BP included Head of Strategy for BP’s North America Gas business, General Manager of operations in Wyoming, USA, and several roles in Latin America. Mr. Marti currently serves on the boards of Pattern Energy Group, Sierra Oil and Gas, Avant Energy, and Cuadrilla Resources, as well as on the Technical Committee of Riverstone’s CKD fund in Mexico. He previously represented Riverstone on the board of a number of other portfolio companies and managed Investor Relations for Riverstone Energy Limited in London. Mr. Marti received his M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He also holds a summa cum laude degree in Economics from Venezuela’s Andres Bello University and a Corporate Finance diploma from London Business School.
Debra Duncan
Debbie’s practice focuses on advising U.S.-based businesses and investors on a wide range of federal income tax matters. Her business transactions practice focuses on the federal income tax consequences of structuring transactions, with particular emphasis on the acquisition, development, operation, and disposition of investments in alternative energy projects qualifying for federal tax credits; initial and follow-on public offerings and acquisitions of interests in publicly traded master limited partnerships (MLPs) and corporate issuers; and representing clients seeking advance private rulings from the Internal Revenue Service. She is a member of the firm’s Climate Change practice group.
Robert Seber
Robert’s principal areas of practice are private equity and privately negotiated mergers and acquisitions. He has represented numerous investment funds and corporate clients in different sectors of the energy industry and a wide spectrum of other industries, including technology and financial services. Robert’s extensive private equity experience covers the full transactional cycle of investment funds, ranging from fund formation to acquisitions, recapitalizations, minority investments, complex equity arrangements, and exits. A graduate of Yale Law School, he teaches classes on “Oil and Gas: Public and Private Governance” and “Energy Deals” at New York University.

After Indian Point: Alternatives for Low-Carbon Electricity in New York City
2018-02-28 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, D’Agostino Hall, Lipton Hall, 108 West 3rd Street, New York, NY, 10012, United States
Please join the Guarini Center and a group of leading energy policy experts for a discussion on “After Indian Point: Alternatives for Low-Carbon Electricity in New York City.”
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has pledged to shutter the Indian Point Nuclear Plant north of New York City by April of 2021. The closure will effect major change to the New York City power system; Indian Point currently provides about 25 percent of the electricity consumed in New York City and Westchester and the electricity it supplies is carbon free. At this upcoming event, experts will examine low-carbon alternatives for replacing the lost capacity as well as regulatory and policy constraints impacting the City’s options.
1.5 credits of CLE in the Areas of Professional Practice category

Speakers include:
Kyle Collins, Energy Marketer, Hydro Quebec
Susanne DesRoches, Deputy Director, Infrastructure & Energy at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency and the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
Richard Dewey, Executive Vice President, New York Independent System Operator
Jackson Morris, Director, Eastern Energy Project, Natural Resources Defense Council
Eduardo Porter, Reporter, New York Times (moderator)
Mark Travers, Executive Vice President, Global Practice Development, Ramboll

This event is hosted in collaboration with the Quebec Government Office in New York and the Danish Cleantech Hub

Carbon Prices at Universities? Insights from Yale University’s Experience
2018-03-29 08:00 - 17:00 | NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Faculty Library, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
In 2017, Yale University adopted an internal carbon charge across its campus, becoming one of the first universities in the United States to do so. Under Yale’s pioneering program, buildings throughout the university are charged $40 per ton of carbon dioxide that is emitted as a result of the energy they consume. On March 29th, the Guarini Center will host Casey Pickett, Director of Yale’s Carbon Challenge, for a conversation about the lessons learned from Yale’s early experiences with carbon pricing and whether such a scheme is appropriate for adoption at other universities throughout the country.
1 credit of CLE in the Areas of Professional Practice category

Featured Speakers:
Casey Pickett, Director, Yale University’s Carbon Charge; former Director for Innovation, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development
In conversation with:
Katrina Wyman, Sarah Herring Sorin Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
and
Danielle Spiegel-Feld (’10), Executive Director, Guarini Center on Environmental Energy & Land Use Law, New York University School of Law

The Natural Gas Forecast: Legal, Political and Economic Factors Affecting Gas Generation in the US
2018-04-30 18:30 - 20:00 | NYU School of Law, Greenberg Lounge, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY, 10012, United States
The outlook for natural gas fired generation across America defies easy prediction. With record levels of production ongoing, the EIA expects that prices will remain low in 2018, which should support the continued ascendance of gas generation. At the same time, a number of states have introduced policies that could bolster alternative forms of generation and reduce the market share for gas. On April 30th, the Guarini Center will host a distinguished group of energy industry experts for a discussion about how these various legal, political and economic factors are impacting the outlook for natural gas fired generation across the United States.
1.5 credits of CLE in the Areas of Professional Practice category

Speakers include:
Robert Mancini (’84), Managing Director and Co-Head of Carlyle Power Partners
Thaddeus Miller, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer, Calpine Corporation
Gary Rygh, Senior Managing Director, Guggenheim Securities
Michael Shenberg (’85), Partner, White & Case LLP (moderator)

This event is hosted in collaboration with White & Case LLP

Greening America’s Data Centers
2018-10-16 18:30 - 19:45 | NYU School of Law, D’Agostino Hall, Lipton Hall, 108 West 3rd Street, New York, NY, 10012, United States
The data centers that power our search engines, social media sites and so much more contribute about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is about same amount as the airline industry. As our digital appetite grows, these emissions could increase substantially if concerted action is not taken. At this upcoming event, industry experts will explore challenges and opportunities to reducing data centers’ carbon footprint to put us on a path towards a more sustainable future. Among other questions, we will consider the appropriateness of regulatory solutions to improve sustainability.
1 credit of CLE in Areas of Professional Practice

For background reading on this topic, please see: Joseph R. Brisca, Data Transmission and Energy Efficient Internet Data Centers, 67 Am. U. L. Rev. 233 (2017).

Speakers include:
John Clinger, Technical Specialist, Energy Efficiency, ICF International
Kenny Habul, Chief Executive Officer, SunEnergy1
Sadiq Malik, Principal, Digital Bridge
Vanessa Miler-Fels, Renewable Energy Strategist, Microsoft
Elizabeth Stein (’03), Senior Manager of New York Clean Energy Law & Policy Program, Environmental Defense Fund (moderator)
Brian Thomas, Business Architect, Growth & Sustainability, Equinix (keynote speaker)
This event is hosted in collaboration with ING

Speakers biographies:
John Clinger
John Clinger works with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the lead technical consultant in the development of eligibility criteria for several ENERGY STAR information technology and data center products. This work includes recent specification development in the computer server, data center storage, computer and networking product categories. John also represents EPA in the development of energy efficiency criteria in several IEEE, NSF, UL and ASHRAE industry standards. Moreover, he manages ICF’s ENERGY STAR product development team which develops eligibility criteria for over 70 product categories.
In addition, John recently concluded four years of management of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Data Center Challenge and Accelerator programs, partnering with private sector and federal government organizations to reduce infrastructure energy use in their data centers.
John holds an M.S. in electrical engineering and B.C.E. in computer engineering from the University of Delaware.
Kenny Habul
Kenny Habul, SunEnergy1’s CEO and President, is a native of Australia. Kenny has been involved in PV (PV) solar and solar thermal since 1996 and has since established himself as a leader in the field of sustainable construction technologies. Prior to forming SunEnergy1, Kenny was a partner in Habul Brothers Luxury Home Construction, one of the most prominent and innovative builders in Queensland, Australia. Kenny has vast experience in commercial and residential construction and formed a passion for sustainable construction practices and solar energy. Kenny holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Bond University in Australia.
Sadiq Malik
Sadiq Malik is a Principal at Digital Bridge Holdings, LLC. Mr. Malik is a seasoned investment professional with in-depth investing experience in private, distressed and public equities across a variety of industries.
Prior to joining Digital Bridge in 2017, Mr. Malik was a co-founding partner of Oskie Capital, a public and private equity firm, which invested in companies undergoing positive business transformations and corporate change. During his time there, Mr. Malik led Oskie’s investments in the communications infrastructure space including datacenters and satellite operators and was also involved in Oskie’s cable investments.
Before Oskie Capital, Mr. Malik worked on President Obama’s Auto Task Force at the U.S. Department of the Treasury during the financial crisis in 2009. In this role, he helped take General Motors through its bankruptcy reorganization, which remains the largest industrial bankruptcy in U.S. history. After its completion, Mr. Malik helped the head of the Auto Task Force, Steven Rattner, chronicle the experience in a book titled “Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry”.
Prior to working for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Mr. Malik was an investment professional at Och-Ziff Capital (2007-2008), The Blackstone Group (2003-2005) and Morgan Stanley (2000-2003).
Mr. Malik earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School in 2007 and a BA, summa cum laude, in Economics from Dartmouth College in 2000.
Vanessa Miler
Vanessa is a Renewable Energy Strategist at Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure and Operations, she works on energy strategy, renewable energy procurement and investment. 10+ years of experience in unlocking capital for renewable energy and environment projects in EMEA and emerging markets. Experience across the public and private sectors. Former senior adviser on climate finance and negotiations at the French Ministry of Finance. French and Indian national, graduate of Sciences-Po Paris and the ENA – Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
Elizabeth Stein
Elizabeth Brooke Stein is an attorney in EDF’s Clean Energy Program, focusing on the development of a low-carbon energy system.
Elizabeth engages in state and regional proceedings to advocate for the promulgation of technology and practices that improve the flexibility and performance of the electric system, and enable the full deployment of more low-carbon resources, including low-carbon demand response and intermittent renewable resources. Since 2012, Elizabeth and her colleagues in EDF’s New York office have been working to ensure that the post-Sandy transformation of New York’s electric system is built on a foundation of resiliency and sustainability, not just durability.
Brian Thomas
Brian has been an integral part of Equinix’s journey to be the leading global data center and interconnection service provider. Since joining the Company in 2005 he has witnessed the stock appreciate thirteen-fold from $30 to $430. While at Equinix Brian has had the unique privilege of reporting to the CFO, COO, CEO and Executive Chairman while playing pivotal roles in the areas of Finance, Strategy, Culture and Sustainability. Prior to Equinix, Brian was an investment banker with Citigroup in London, Singapore, New York and San Francisco. During his nine years at Citigroup he advised clients in the Technology, Health Care and Consumer Products sectors on a range of M&A and Capital Markets transactions. In between his management and advisory experiences, Brian spent a couple of years being a self-employed entrepreneur which involved experiments in Real Estate, Hand-loom Silk and Documentary Film.
Brian’s academic pursuits were in international development, with a focus on market and outward oriented development policies. He earned an M.Phil. in the Economics and Politics of Development from the University of Cambridge and a B.A. in Economics and Politics from Willamette University. His inclination to lifelong education has drawn him to learning opportunities in Finance, Management, Technology, Design, Sustainability and Well-being.
Brian is a product of the colonial influence in India. His was born into a Syrian Christian and Portuguese Catholic family from Kerala and raised in Mumbai where he was educated at a British Anglican institution, Cathedral and John Connon School. With a professional lens, Brian views himself as an accidental capitalist. What moves him is long-term value, social impact and truthful storytelling. In his personal life, he can be found raising a family, enjoying the outdoors and consuming media.
