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Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
The new critical minerals agreement between Japan and the US is more than yet another bilateral trade announcement.
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Last week, President Trump announced that he was imposing significant new sanctions on Russia. It’s an effort to cut off revenue Russia needs for its war in Ukraine....
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The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA's Women in Energy initiative invites you to join us for an interactive workshop on professional relationship-building and networking....
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Past Event
April 16, 2013
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University for a presentation by SIPA alum Sharon Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy. Last year, the Department of Defense spent $16.4B on petroleum, consumed 4.3B gallons of fuel, and was the world’s single largest consumer of energy. Assistant Secretary Burke will discuss the DoD’s current energy landscape and its energy future, focusing on how the Defense Department views energy security and national security issues. The presentation will be followed by Q&A moderated by Center Director Jason Bordoff. Registration is required.
Biography:
Sharon E. Burke was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs on June 25, 2010.
As the Assistant Secretary, Ms. Burke is the principal advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense on operational energy security and reports to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. She is the inaugural Assistant Secretary for the office, which was created to strengthen the energy security of U.S. military operations. The mission of the office is to help the military services and combatant commands improve military capabilities, cut costs, and lower operational and strategic risk through better energy accounting, planning, management, and innovation. Operational energy, or the energy required to train, move, and sustain forces, weapons, and equipment for military operations, accounted for 75 percent of all energy used by the Department of Defense in 2012.
Prior to her appointment at the Department of Defense, Ms. Burke was a Vice President and Senior Fellow at the non-partisan and independent Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a defense policy think tank. At CNAS, Ms. Burke directed research on energy security and initiated the Natural Security Program, which looked at the national security implications of global natural resources challenges.
Ms. Burke has extensive previous U.S. government service. She served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the Department of State, a Country Director in the Department of Defense’s Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, and a speechwriter to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Secretary of Defense William Cohen. She started her career in the Energy and Materials program of the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, contributing to a multi-year study of energy in developing countries.
First joining the Department of Defense as a Presidential Management Fellow, Ms. Burke has received medals for Exceptional Public Service from the Department of Defense and the Superior Honor Award from the Department of State. She has served on the Leadership Team of the American Assembly’s Next Generation Project, as the Director of the National Security Project at Third Way, as the Middle East Advocacy Director at Amnesty International USA, and is the author of numerous reports, including A Strategy for American Power: Energy, Climate, and National Security.
Ms. Burke graduated from Williams College and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she focused on international energy policy and earned a Certificate of Middle Eastern Studies. At Columbia, she also was
Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia SIPA, the Columbia Global Center in Rio, and Insper are proud to host a high-level discussion on the future of...
On October 22, the United States Department of the Treasury announced the imposition of sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, as a penalty for what it characterized as a lack of Russian commitment to ending the war in Ukraine.
Due to overwhelming interest, we are offering another session of this popular workshop! Join us on November 6th at 5:00pm for this interactive workshop on expanding and strengthening...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j15toAJ2BnE The growth of green industrial policy in major economies is creating friction between climate and trade. If allowed to escalate, these frictions may disrupt climate action and...
The global clean energy economy today looks starkly different than it did even 10 years ago. Not only have production and deployment of clean energy technologies expanded significantly, the geographic distribution of clean energy manufacturers, resellers, and end-users has shifted dramatically.
The new critical minerals agreement between Japan and the US is more than yet another bilateral trade announcement.
Carbon credits are emerging as a key tool for companies to meet a number of objectives, including emission-reduction targets, compliance obligations, investor expectations, and disclosure requirements.
