PUBLIC LECTURE: Recent developments in US climate policy

IN PERSON EVENT ONLY

The Melbourne Energy Institute invites you to a public lecture by Dr Karl Hausker of World Resources Institute, who will present on Recent developments in US climate policy

Passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was a major step forward for the U.S. on the path to meeting its NDC target for 2030 under the climate treaty, and toward its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. The IRA addresses emissions in nearly all sectors of the economy and provides incentives for carbon dioxide removal. 

This lecture will: 

• place the IRA in context given the history of US climate policy; 
• assess progress in its implementation; and
• explore implementation challenges expected in the decade ahead. 

Topics will include the impact of the 2024 elections, surging electricity demand, large buyer interest in nuclear and other clean/firm power, and debates over U.S. fossil fuel production and exports.

SPEAKER:

Dr Karl Hausker, Senior Fellow, World Resources Institute

Dr. Karl Hausker leads analysis and modeling of net-zero emission pathways, and works on a range of electricity issues, with a focus on market design. He served as an Expert Reviewer for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.

Karl has worked for three decades in the fields of climate change, energy, and environment in a career that has spanned legislative and executive branches, research institutions, NGOs, and consulting. Before joining WRI, Karl was a Vice President at ICF Consulting from 2007-2013. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Administrator in EPA’s Policy Office, and as Chief Economist for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In 1999, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Delhi.

Karl holds an M.P.P and Ph.D. in Public Policy from University of California, Berkeley, and received his B.A. in Economics from Cornell University.

MODERATOR:

Professor Michael Brear, Director, Melbourne Energy Institute, University of Melbourne

Michael Brear is a mechanical engineer and the Director of the Melbourne Energy Institute (MEI) at the University of Melbourne. MEI facilitates the University’s research on the technical, economic, environmental and social impacts of energy.

Michael is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, the Combustion Institute, Engineers Australia and the Australian Institute of Energy. He previously established the University’s multi-disciplinary degree, the Master of Energy Systems. Prior to commencing at the University of Melbourne, Michael worked for ICI Australia (now Orica), and then undertook graduate studies at Cambridge University and post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.