That’s a wrap! The fifth and final day of National Clean Energy Week 2020 is in the books, and what a week it has been! Our events featured more than 15 elected officials and over 100 speakers who collectively provided more than 30 hours of content. We are pleased to announce that theses sessions will be available on-demand beginning next Wednesday, so if you missed any, please be sure to go back and check them out.
Once again, we would like to thank all of our participants: the policymakers, government leaders, industry experts, and nonprofit advocates who made this National Clean Energy Week the best one yet. We are incredibly appreciative of our many sponsors, and our Steering Committee, who make National Clean Energy Week come alive every week of the year. And most of all, we thank you – the members of this incredible community helping to raise the profile of clean energy industries and add your voice to the policy making discussion. With your dedication, we know America’s energy future will be stronger than ever.
Please join us next year, September 20-24, 2021, for the FIFTH anniversary of National Clean Energy Week!
RECORDINGS OF ALL NCEW 2020 SESSIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON-DEMAND SEPTEMBER 30
All of this year’s NCEW sessions, including remarks from policymakers as well as expert panels, will be available on the event site on-demand starting next Wednesday. You can catch up on today’s sessions when you binge-watch the entire symposium next week!
NCEW DAY FIVE SPEAKERS FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE
Speakers today had their eyes on the future—the innovation and technologies of tomorrow, the future political and international landscape, and the next generation of clean energy advocates. Today’s two elected official speakers were Representative Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Representative David McKinley (R-WV), who discussed emerging technologies like energy storage and carbon capture and spoke of American leadership in innovation. Panels included “Markets Over Mandates: The Future of Electricity Competition” and “Designing Reliability: From Macro Solutions to Microgrids,” which both had an eye on meeting America’s future energy needs in dynamic ways. And the afternoon was also focused on the future, but particularly concerned with America’s political future. To close out a successful #NCEW20, Energy reporter Abby
Smith from the Washington Examiner joined Former Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in a friendly (for the mostly) but spirited conversation about clean energy, climate and what’s ahead once we’re on the other side of November 3.
Finally, former Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) moderated a panel of younger “Gen Z” climate advocates who also happen to be conservatives, showing that the future of energy and climate policy will be bipartisan.
SENATORS CHRIS COONS AND BILL CASSIDY INTRODUCE ENERGIZING TECHNLOGOY TRANSFER ACT
Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) closed out NCEW by introducing the Energizing Technology Transfer Act, legislation that will help deploy American clean energy innovations based at the Department of Energy (DOE). Despite the numerous successes of our 17 DOE laboratories, transitioning innovative ideas to the market place continue to suffer from the “valley of death” effect, where a technology is no longer able to receive research funding, but also has not achieved commercial adoption due to barriers posed by incumbent technologies or other challenges. This legislation will help bridge the gap between research and
commercialization by establishing and expanding multiple clean energy technology transfer programs, supporting commercialization opportunities at national labs, and modernizing the DOE for a new era of clean energy commercialization.
CONGRESSMAN DAN NEWHOUSE PENS CLEAN ENERGY WEEK EDITORIAL
In recognition of National Clean Energy Week, Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA) wrote an op-ed in The Wenatchee World on Thursday. He wrote about the abundant renewable energy resources in Central Washington, especially hydropower and wind power, as well as nuclear power. He also touted his district’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), home to the Grid Storage Launchpad, an investment by the federal government recognizing that the incredible work at PNNL will help the United States win the global battery arms race. “This National Clean Energy Week, we recognize that we still have work to do to secure our nation’s energy independence and clean energy future,” he wrote, “but there is a bright future ahead.”
CONGRESSMAN GUS BILIRAKIS AND VIRGINIA STATE DELEGATE GLENN DAVIS RECORD VIDEO MESSAGES FOR NCEW
Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) recorded a short video greeting celebrating NCEW, available here, and State Delegate Glenn Davis (R-VA) provided a 16-minute discussion on the energy situation in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which you can watch here.
NOTABLE QUOTES FROM DAY FIVE OF NCEW
“For a long time, we were reliant on fossil fuels, but over the last 10 to 15 years we have diversified, and that’s good for national security.”
-Representative Darin LaHood (R-IL)
"We have a problem in this country with politicizing environmental issues to the point where 50% of the country feels like they’ve been left behind on it."
-Benji Backer, President, American Conservation Coalition
"Bipartisanship is something the America people are really longing for—they want people to solve problems. And I think National Clean Energy Week shows people that we can do that."
-Former Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
"Shouldn’t we continue to adopt develop energy technology that the rest of the world can adopt. Things like energy efficiency and carbon capture?"
-Representative David McKinley (R-WV)
We'd be nothing without our friends. Thank you to all of NCEW20's sponsors!
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To learn more about National Clean Energy Week please visit, nationalcleanenergyweek.org.
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