Texas Tribune Hosts April 13 Symposium at UH on Energy and Environment

Energy and the environment in Texas will be the focus of a symposium April 13 at the University of Houston hosted by The Texas Tribune and featuring UH President Renu Khator, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman and other elected officials and policymakers.

The program of lectures, panel discussions and conversations will explore federal energy policy as it impacts the state of Texas, state policy as it affects communities like Houston, the promise of clean and renewable energy in all its forms and the economic and environmental effects in South Texas of one of the largest shale plays in the nation.

The Texas Tribune Festival On the Road: A Symposium on Energy and the Environment will be held in the Wortham Theatre in the UH Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts Building. The event is free and open to the public, but those attending must RSVP at http://bit.ly/Hgvd6V or email rsvp@texastribune.org.

Founded in 2009, The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online news source focusing on public policy, politics and government. As part of its mission, The Texas Tribune also hosts public events featuring elected officials and other leaders on a variety of issues and topics important to Texans. smallTrib

In recent years, UH has identified energy as a strategic focus for faculty research and teaching, making it a key ingredient in UH’s role as a Tier One research university. As part this effort, it established UH Energy, a collection of the university’s preeminent energy research and education programs. It also established the UH Energy Research Park, a unique environment for students and faculty to exchange ideas and work in partnership with industry, researchers, organizations and the community.

Khator will begin the symposium with a discussion about UH’s energy initiatives and goals. All of the events except the lunch will be held in The Wortham Theatre. The featured speakers also include state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, and state Reps. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and Mark Strama, D-Austin. The agenda is as follows:

7:30 – 8 a.m: Complimentary Breakfast

8 – 9 a.m.: TribLive with UH President Renu Khator and Evan Smith, editor-in-chief and CEO of The Texas Tribune.

9:15 – 10:15 a.m.: "An Energy Plan for Texas" with Barry Smitherman,  chairman, Texas Railroad Commission.

10:30 – 11:30 a.m.: "Is Clean and Renewable Energy an Oxymoron?" with Laura Miller, Texas director of projects, Summit Power; Patrick Woodson,  chief development officer, E.ON, Climate & Renewables, North America; and John Ragan, executive vice president and regional president, Gulf Coast, NRG Energy, Inc.

11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Complimentary lunch with roundtable discussions on sustainability and other key energy topics. UH faculty members will lead the discussions. NOTE: Lunch will be held in the G.D. Hines College of Architecture.

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.: "The Impact of the Eagle Ford Shale" with Cris Eugster, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer, CPS Energy; Leodoro Martinez Jr., executive director, Middle Rio Grande Development Council; Jennifer Powis, senior regional representative, Texas, Sierra Club; and State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio.

2:45 – 3:45 p.m.: A conversation with State Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee and State Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, member of the House Energy Resources Committee.

Note: The Wortham Theatre is in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts Building at the University of Houston. Visit here for a map: http://www.uh.edu/maps/buildings/WT.

For a map to the G.D. Hines College of Architecture, visit: http://www.uh.edu/maps/buildings/ARC



Note: The event is free and open to the public. Those wanting to attend are asked to RSVP at http://bit.ly/Hgvd6V or email rsvp@texastribune.org.

 

About the University of Houston

               The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation’s best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation’s fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.