Georgia
2008
Climate Change Summit
Panel I
What does the future hold for Georgia's climate?
9:00 AM
9:20 AM
9:40 AM
10:00 AM
10:20 AM
(Session Chair: Michael Chang, GA Tech)
Welcome and Introduction - Judy Curry, GA Tech
Global Climate Change: Impacts on Georgia - Marshall Sheppard, UGA
Drought in Georgia: Past, Present, Future - David Stooksbury, UGA
Questions to the Panel
Break
Panel II
Impacts and adaptation
10:40 AM
11:00 AM
11:20 AM
11:40 AM
(Session Chair: Michael Chang, GA Tech)
Sea Level Rise, Hurricanes, and Coastal Adaptation - Peter Webster, GA Tech
Impacts on Health - Jeremy Hess, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Conserve Georgia - Chris Clark, GA Environmental Facilities Authority
Questions to the Panel
12:00 PM
Lunch
Panel III
Economic risks and opportunities
1:00 PM
1:20 PM
1:50 PM
2:10 PM
2:30 PM
(Session Chair: Jim Stokes, Georgia Conservancy)
Industry Adaptation - Jeff Seabright, Coca-Cola
Energy Efficiency and Conservation - Marilyn Brown, GA Tech
Future Power Generation in Georgia - Danny Herrin, Southern Company
Questions to the Panel
Break
Panel IV
Policy
3:00 PM
3:20 PM
3:40 PM
4:00 PM
4:20 PM
(Session Chair: Jim Stokes, Georgia Conservancy)
Federal Climate Change Legislation - Jay Hakes, Energy Inform. Admin. (former)
Carbon Trading, Taxes, and Offsets - Bill Chameides, Duke University
Sustainable Atlanta and Climate Change - Lynette Young, Damespointe
Questions to the Panel
Closing Remarks - Michael Chang, GA Tech
4:30 PM
Reception
Ferst Center for the Arts
May 6, 2008
About today’s featured speakers
Dr. Marilyn Brown is Professor of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to
coming to Georgia Tech, Dr. Brown had a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak
Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Brown's expertise is in the field of energy policy and technology
forecasting, including the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies, their
commercialization, and the evaluation of energy programs and policies. Dr. Brown has been an expert
witness in hearings before Committees of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate.
She serves on the board of directors of the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, the American Council
for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and the Alliance to Save Energy.
Dr. William Chameides is Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.
Previously he was Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense and before that Regents Professor and
Smithgall Chair at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy
of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and recipient of the American Geophysical
Union's Macelwane Award. Dr. Chameides' research focuses on elucidating the coupled chemical,
physical, and biological processes that shape our environment, and thereby help to identify pathways
toward a sustainable future.
Chris Clark is the Executive Director of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA).
GEFA serves as the State bank by providing loans and grants for Clean Drinking Water, Clean Water,
weatherization, economic development, and solid waste projects for local governments. GEFA also
finances the Governor’s Land Conservation Program and houses the State Energy Office, Georgia's
alternative fuels effort, and the state fuel storage tank program. In 2007 GEFA provided over $288
million in local grants and loans and currently, over half of Georgia communities receive GEFA
funding, totaling over $2 billion.
Dr. Judith Curry is Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of
Technology. Dr. Curry's research interests include the climate dynamics of the Arctic, climatology of
hurricanes, and applications of satellite data to interpreting recent variations in the climate data record.
Dr. Curry has recently served on the National Academies Climate Research Committee and the Space
Studies Board, and the NOAA Climate Working Group. Dr. Curry is a Fellow of the American
Meteorological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American
Geophysical Union.
Jay E. Hakes served as the administrator of the Energy Information Administration, the independent
data and analytic arm of the U.S. Department of Energy during the 1990's. During that time, he
supervised most of the federal government's energy data collections, analysis and long-range energy
trend projections. He also directed studies on how long world oil supplies would last, the status of the oil
reserves in Alaska, and the costs of the Kyoto Treaty on global warming. He has testified about energy
issues before congressional committees on 26 occasions and briefed major officials throughout the U.S.
government and around the world. He is currently Director of the Carter Presidential Library.
Danny Herrin is Manager of Climate and Environmental Strategies at Southern Company. In this
position he directs a company-wide effort to develop compliance strategies for current and future
environmental requirements, including potential climate change requirements. Danny has over 34 years
experience in the environmental field including local and federal government, industry, and 27 years
with Southern Company.
About today’s featured speakers continued…
Dr. Jeremy Hess is a consultant for the Director of the National Center for Environmental Health at
CDC. He works on climate change and health issues, administering CDC's climate change response plan
and coordinating research activities. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Emergency
Medicine and Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University's School of Medicine and
Public Health.
Jeff Seabright, is Vice President, Environment and Water Resources, at The Coca-Cola Company. Jeff
has held several positions in government and business, including as a foreign service officer in the U.S.
State Department and as legislative assistant to U.S. Senators Timothy E. Wirth and John D. Rockefeller
IV. He moved to the White House in 1999 to be the executive director of the Climate Change Task
Force. Seabright also serves on the Boards of the American Council for Renewable Energy, the
Keystone Center and the Nature Conservancy.
Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd is an associate professor in the Department of Geography/Atmospheric
Sciences Program at the University of Georgia (UGA). He conducts research in atmospheric sciences,
climatology, water cycle processes and urban climate systems. Prior to joining the UGA faculty, Dr.
Shepherd spent 12 years as a research meteorologist at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center where he
served as Deputy Project Scientist for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. He is a
recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award, appeared on Black Enterprise Magazine's 2005 Hot
List, and is a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Executive Council, the National
Science Foundation ERE advisory council, and the NOAA Climate Working Group. Dr. Shepherd is a
contributing author on the 2007 Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR4 report.
Dr. David Stooksbury is the Georgia State Climatologist and a professor of Biological and Agricultural
Engineering at the University of Georgia. His research expertise is in agricultural meteorology,
hydroclimatology, and water resources.
Dr. Peter Webster is a Professor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Environmental Engineering at
the Georgia Institute of Technology. Webster's area of research is focused on the climate dynamics of
the tropics, including the forecasting of rainfall, floods and droughts in monsoon regions of the world,
and also hurricanes. Dr. Webster is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American
Meteorological Society, the Royal Meteorological Society and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. He has received a number of awards including the Jule Charney Award and
the Carl Gustav Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society, and the Adrian Gill
Award from the Royal Meteorological Society.
Lynette Young is the President and CEO of Damespointe. She is currently helping the City of Atlanta
develop strategies and execute solutions around environmental sustainability. She is the former Chief
Operating Officer for the City of Atlanta under Mayor Shirley Franklin and previously served under
Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke as Chief of Staff, functioning as both Chief Administrative and Chief
Operating Officer of the city.
Want to learn more about climate and air quality in Georgia?
Today’s Georgia Climate Change Summit is also “Day 1” of the Georgia Air Quality & Climate
Summit. “Day 2” begins at 9:00 AM tomorrow (coffee and check-in begins at 8:00 AM) at
the GTRI Conference Center located at 250 14th Street, NW Atlanta, Georgia 30318.
You’ve heard the big picture on climate, now come meet the people that are filling in the details.
In small breakout sessions, you will help identify barriers that might be preventing Georgia from
moving ahead on developing a climate action plan. You also will get the latest updates on air
quality regulation, research, and policy as it applies to Georgia. Program and registration
available at http://airsummit.gatech.edu; walk-in registration available.
Featured Day 2 Topics and Speakers:
Climate
Recap of Day 1 (Judy Curry, GA Tech);
State of Georgia’s Climate Action (Chuck Mueller, GA EPD)
Barriers to Climate Planning in Georgia (attending delegates)
Air Quality
The State of Georgia’s Air (Jimmy Johnston, GA EPD)
Air, Smoke, Forests, & Fire (Luke P. Naeher, UGA; Chris Simpson, University of
Washington; Jeffrey Dennis, UGA; Scott L. Goodrick, USDA Forest Service; Talat
Odman, GA Tech; Gary L. Achtemeier, USDA Forest Service; James Parker, Fort
Benning; Neal Edmondson, Georgia Forestry Commission)
Good and Gooder: New NAAQS, New Requirements (Carol L. Kemker, US EPA,
Region IV; Jimmy Johnston, GA EPD; Stefani Ebelt Sarnat, Emory University)
Should I run behind the bus? Smog & Outdoor Activity Advisory (Rebecca Watts Hull,
Mothers & Others for Clean Air; Roby Greenwald, Emory University; W. Gerald
Teague, Emory Pediatrics Asthma Clinical Research Center; Pam Earl, GA EPD;
Douglas Noonan, GA Tech)
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (Kevin Green, Clean Air Campaign; Phil Peevy,
GA Department of Transportation; Tom Weyandt, Atlanta Regional Commission)
A Pound of Prevention and an Ounce of Cure: SIPs, EACs, and the Future of Regulation
(Jim Kelly, GA EPD; Brian Gist, Southern Environmental Law Center; David Jackson,
Atlanta Regional Commission; Rob Goodwin, Georgia Regional Transportation
Authority; Jane Spann, US EPA Region IV)
Biofuel Mythbusters (Charise Stephens, Middle Georgia Clean Cities; Ross Harding,
Herty Advanced Materials Development Center; Lisa Ryan, Alterra Bioenergy; Ali
Csinos, Southern Ethanol Council)
The Last Frontier: Controlling Non-road Mobile Sources (Ted Russell, GA Tech;
Eric Arnold, Yancey Power Systems; Tom Nissalke, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport;
Michelle Bergin, GA EPD; Talat Odman, GA Tech)