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For 35 years, government and the market have been trying and failing to get energy policy right. Congress has failed to pass large-scale clean energy and climate legislation, while China and other competitors are moving aggressively to take the lead in new energy technology. And the market has failed to create needed low-carbon technology on its own. Meanwhile, the nation's dependence on oil and coal deepens and global temperatures continue to rise. To address these issues, we need to get past the old energy policy paradigm - and we just may be turning the corner.

On December 15th 2010, hundreds of leading thinkers, scientists, public officials, and innovators gathered in Washington, DC for the Energy Innovation 2010 Conference to initiate a new conversation on a new energy policy paradigm: one that recognizes the central role of innovation in resolving the world's looming energy challenges and boosting American competitiveness. Climate change aside, we can't rely on carbon-based fuels for the next 150 years the way we did for the last 150. And we can't create the transformational energy innovations we need without putting innovation front and center.

Spearheaded by the Breakthrough Institute, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, and a long list of partner organizations (full list of partners and speakers here), the conference sought to chart the proper course for a new paradigm with energy innovation as a central focus.

"Energy Innovation 2010" merely begins a new national energy dialog that must continue well into the coming years. Breakthrough Institute and our partners will continue to spearhead this conversation as we seek new strategies to address the multifaceted energy challenges facing America and the world.

In case you missed the conference, held before a packed house at the National Press Club, or if you simply want to revisit the top notch presentations delivered throughout the packed day, videos from the full conference can be viewed below.

See also:

 

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Part 1: The Innovation Imperative: Economy, Security, Environment

  • Welcome remarks by Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  • Roger Pielke, Jr., Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder; Author of The Climate Fix
  • Robbie Diamond, President and CEO, the Electrification Coalition and Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE)
  • Devon Swezey, Project Director, Breakthrough Institute; Co-author of "Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant"
  • Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  • Moderator: Richard Harris, Science Correspondent, NPR News

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Part 2: Learning from the Past: America's History of Limited but Energetic Public Investment

  • Daniel Sarewitz, Director, Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, Arizona State University; Senior Fellow, Breakthrough Institute
  • Jesse Jenkins, Director of Energy and Climate Policy, Breakthrough Institute

View full text of presentation and download slides here

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Part 3: Where We Are Now: Introducing a New Tool for Tracking Federal Energy Innovation Data

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Part 4: Looking to the Future: Federal Energy Innovation Strategies

  • Cathy Zoi, Acting Under Secretary for Energy and Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
  • Arun Majumdar, Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
  • Jeffrey Marqusee, Executive Director, Strategic Environmental R&D Program and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, Department of Defense
  • Moderator: Alexis Madrigal, Senior Editor, Atlantic Monthly

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Part 5: Keynote Presentation: Energy in Three Dimensions - Economy, Security, Environment / Panel with Energy Technology Experts: Bridging the Cleantech Gap

  • Dr. Burton Richter, Nobel Laureate and Director Emeritus, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), Keynote
  • Introduction by Michael Shellenberger, President, Breakthrough Institute
  • Dr. Martin Hoffert, Professor Emeritus of Physics, New York University; Senior Fellow, Breakthrough Institute
  • Dr. Nathan Lewis, George L. Argyros Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology
  • Moderator: Andrew Revkin, Dot Earth Blogger, The New York Times and Senior Fellow, Pace University

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Part 6: Catalyzing the Private Sector: What Firms and Entrepreneurs Need to Innovate

  • Will Coleman, Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures
  • Brian Sager, Co-founder and Vice President for Corporate Development, Nanosolar
  • Lincoln Hoewing, Vice President for Internet and Technology Policy, Verizon
  • Bill Tyndall, Senior Vice President for Federal Government and Regulatory Affairs, Duke Energy
  • Moderator: Amanda Little, Journalist and Author, Power Trip

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Part 7: Clean Innovation Policy: How Do We Drive It?

  • Mark Muro, Fellow and Policy Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution
  • Armond Cohen, Executive Director, Clean Air Task Force
  • Sasha Mackler, Research Director, Bipartisan Policy Center/National Commission on Energy Policy
  • Tom Kerr, Senior Energy Analyst, International Energy Agency
  • William Bonvillian, Director, MIT Washington Office; Co-author of Structuring an Energy Technology Revolution
  • Moderator: Bryan Walsh, Environmental Columnist, TIME Magazine

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Part 8: A New Centrism: Making Clean Innovation Policy Bipartisan

  • Jonathan Epstein, Office of Senator Jeff Bingaman / Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Neil Brown, Office of Senator Richard Lugar / Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Ted Nordhaus, Chairman, Breakthrough Institute
  • Steve Hayward, F.K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
  • Josh Freed, Director of Clean Energy Program, Third Way
  • Moderator: Jim Tankersley, Economics Correspondent, National Journal