A New Unifying Issue: Just About Everyone Hates Data Centers
Recent election results and evidence from states show misgivings about the growth of AI and the ramifications for energy costs and the environment.
Current Access Level “I” – ID Only: CUID holders, alumni, and approved guests only
Past Event
October 11, 2021
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
This roundtable is open only to currently-enrolled Columbia University students. To register, you must use the email address that contains your UNI.
Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy for a student-only virtual roundtable discussion with Leonardo Beltrán Rodríguez, CGEP Distinguished Visiting Fellow; Cheryl A. LaFleur, CGEP Adjunct Senior Research Scholar and Advisory Board member; and Mary Nichols, CGEP Distinguished Visiting Fellow. Our speakers will discuss their backgrounds and experience working across industry, government, and academia in the USA and abroad. Following introductions and opening remarks, students will have the opportunity to break out into small groups with our speakers for further discussion.
Biographies
Leonardo Beltrán Rodríguez
Leonardo Beltrán Rodríguez is a member of the Board of SEforALL, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, and holds fellowships at the Institute of the Americas, and at the University of Calgary. He had a distinguished 13-year career in the government of Mexico, including as the longest serving Deputy Secretary of Energy (2012-2018), member of the board of Pemex, and chairman of the boards of Mexico’s national energy labs.
Mr. Beltran is a leading expert in the energy transition. He holds an MPA/ID from Harvard University and a BS in Economics from ITAM.
Cheryl A. LaFleur
Cheryl LaFleur is an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar and Advisory Board member at the Center on Global Energy Policy. She is also the Chairman of the Board of ISO New England, which operates the electric grid and markets for New England.
Previously, LaFleur was one of the longest-serving commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, from 2010 until 2019, chairing the Commission from 2013-15 and during 2017.
Earlier in her career, LaFleur was a lawyer and an executive in the electric industry. She has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B. from Princeton University.
Mary Nichols
Mary Nichols is widely recognized for a career as one of the world’s most important environmental regulators. As chair of the California Air and Resources Board from 1975-1982 and then from 2007-2020, she led California’s leading battle to cut smog and carbon emissions. Under Nichols’ leadership, CARB enacted the first comprehensive cap on industrial greenhouse gas emissions by any major regulatory agency in the world. Nichols now holds visiting appointments in the Columbia Global Energy Program and the Cornell Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. She also serves as the Vice-Chair of the China-California Climate Center and Co-Chair of the Commission on the Future of Mobility.
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Registration is required. This roundtable is open only to currently-enrolled Columbia University students. To register, you must use the email address that contains your UNI.
This event will be hosted via Zoom and capacity is limited. We ask that you register only if you can attend this event in its entirety.
Please note: this session will be recorded and clips may be made available online.
For more information about the event, please contact [email protected].
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