America's cities are confronting growing populations, a changing climate and rising fuel prices. While political leaders debate the development of alternative energy sources, most experts agree energy efficiency is fundamental to the urban future.
Can cities combat global warming and the high cost of power with less wasteful infrastructure and other strategies? What will it take for cities to become more efficient -- and what reforms are beyond the powers of local government?
The keynote address in the inaugural program in the Cities Respond to Climate Change lecture series was delivered by John Podesta, president, Center for American Progress, and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton - The New School
Bio
Kevin Burke
Kevin Burke is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Consolidated Edison, Inc., the holding company, and chairman and chief executive officer of its largest subsidiary, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, the regulated utility.
John Podesta
John Podesta is the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress and visiting professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Podesta served as chief of staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001 and was at that time responsible for directing, managing, and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, Congressional relations, and staff activities of the White House.
He coordinated the work of cabinet agencies with a particular emphasis on the development of federal budget and tax policy and served in the President's Cabinet and as a principal on the National Security Council.
Podesta has also held a number of positions on Capitol Hill, including counselor to Democratic Leader Senator Thomas A. Daschle; chief counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee; chief minority counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks Security and Terrorism and Regulatory Reform; and counsel on the Majority Staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Julien J. Studley
In 1954, Julien J. Studley established a commercial real estate firm that would only serve tenants and would not be influenced by building owners, landlords, developers, and financing institutions.
Mr. Studley's more than fifty-year career in commercial real estate has made him legendary in New York City real estate circles. He sold the commercial real estate services firm he founded in 1954, Julien J. Studley, Inc. (Studley), in 2003.
As chairman & chief executive of Studley, he was credited with establishing the first tenant representation firm. Studley New Vista Associates management team is led by Mr. Studley. He is joined by Donald Schnabel, Stan Kovak, and Marion Rios, all previously of Studley.
Paul Travis
Paul Travis is managing partner of Washington Square Partners, a real estate development advisory firm in New York City which he founded in 1994.
Over the years, he has worked with corporations, non-profit institutions, and government entities to reconfigure real estate assets and solve land use issues.
He is also a partner in Kingsbridge Development Partners, a real estate development firm which developed River Plaza in the Bronx, New York, the first major private development in the Bronx in twenty years. Since its inception, his firm has been responsible for several major redevelopment initiatives, including Moynihan Station Redevelopment, New York Historical Society, Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment, Cooper Union, Harlem Park, River Plaza, Theater Row, Long Island City and Skyland Center in Washington, D.C.
Prior to founding Washington Square Partners, Mr. Travis served as chief operating officer of Forest City Ratner Companies in New York City, where he was responsible for the development and leasing of MetroTech Center, a 4.5-million-square-foot complex in Brooklyn, New York. He was also responsible for the development of the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the first new convention center hotel in that city.
As an environmental scientist I can honestly say everyone should be very scared. Please check out 350.org or wecansolveit.org for more info on climate change. Or Audubon Society, GreenPeace, Sierra Club, the Pew Center, etc. etc, etc. Get involved and use your voices any way you can to catch the ear of the new administration. Also, please push for the President to attend the upcoming climate change conference in Poland. What good for the environment is good for America. Thanks from Western PA.
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