Event Summary
** Due to space restrictions, registration for this event is now closed. A transcript will be available shortly afterward. **
Energy issues are central to the most important strategic challenges facing the United States and the world. And in the presidential campaign, they are increasingly central to the discussion of how the next president will approach America's environmental, economic and security policy. From the idea of a gasoline tax "holiday" to ethanol subsidies to trade policy, energy issues may well dominate policy and political discussions this summer.
On May 12, the Opportunity 08 project at Brookings will host Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) for a discussion of energy issues facing the next president. In December of 2007, Alexander was elected by his peers to Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference—the third-ranking Republican position in the U.S. Senate. Senator Alexander has recently proposed that the U.S. launch a new, bipartisan Manhattan Project – “a 5-year effort to put America firmly on the path to clean energy independence.”
William Antholis, Brookings managing director, will provide introductory remarks. After the program, Senator Alexander will take audience questions. A panel discussion will follow featuring Antholis; Jason Bordoff, policy director of The Hamilton Project at Brookings; Jonathan Elkind, an expert on energy security in the U.S., Europe and Eurasia; and David Sandalow, Brookings senior fellow and author of
Freedom From Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States' Oil Addiction. The session will be moderated by Brookings Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy Carlos Pascual.
Opportunity 08 aims to help presidential candidates and the public focus on critical issues facing the nation, providing ideas, policy forums and information on a broad range of domestic and foreign policy questions.