Fastest Path to Zero: A Four-Week Virtual Series

The University of Michigan and Third Way is excited to invite you to attend our first Fastest Path to Zero Virtual Conference Series, each Tuesday at Noon-2 PM from September 15 - October 6, 2020, on the Whova interactive web platform.

This digital event brings together leading climate advocates, philanthropists, labor leaders, elected officials, academics, and media from across the Midwest and the nation. Our goal: foster a dynamic conversation focused on how to move forward with ambitious climate action at a time when the nation is also grappling with the pandemic, economic crisis, and resurgent demands for racial justice.

Just as our in-person events aren’t your typical conferences, this won’t be your typical series of webinars. We’re using a different (very easy to use) platform that allows you to interact with other participants and speakers, have background information at the tip of your fingers, and engage with a very diverse set of speakers. This includes a cross-section of national and Midwestern policymakers, and labor, environmental, academic, NGO, and corporate leaders.

Each day of this weekly series will be organized around a specific theme, and you may select to attend all of the events or only the days that interest you (we think they all will).

Tuesday, September 15: What’s at Stake

Noon - 2PM ET

Opening Remarks

Josh Freed, Senior Vice President of Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program
Alec Gallimore, Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan

Keynote Remarks

Stacey Abrams, Former Georgia House Democratic Leader and Founder of the Southern Economic Advancement Project

Panel 1: What do we know about climate, and why does it matter even with a pandemic and economic crisis?

Moderator
Kendra Pierre-Louis, Reporter, Gimlet

Panelists
Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-FL), Chairwoman, House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, Nobel Prize Winner and Samuel A. Graham Dean William B. Stapp Collegiate Professor of Environmental Education Professor, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan
Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Panel 2: The path forward; Standards, Investment, Innovation, and Justice

Moderator
Adam Aton, Reporter, E&E News

Panelists
Josh Freed, Senior Vice President of Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program
Lynn Abramson, President of the Clean Energy Business Network
Brad Markell, Labor Co-Chair, and Executive Director of AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council

Closing Remarks

Todd Allen, Chair and Professor, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences NERS at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, September 22: Innovation

Noon – 2PM ET

Opening Remarks

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Director of Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program

Ann Verhey-Henke, Strategic Director of the University of Michigan Center for Socially Engaged Design

Keynote Remarks

Richard Kauffman, Chair, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA); Adjunct Senior Research Scholar Columbia Global Center on Energy Policy

Panel 1: Mapping the Global Market for Advanced Nuclear

Moderator
Todd Allen, Chair and Professor, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences NERS at the University of Michigan

Panelists
Todd Moss, Founder and Executive Director of the Energy for Growth Hub
Jackie Kempfer, Senior Policy Advisor for Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program
Rose Mutiso, Co-Founder and CEO of The Mawazo Institute, and Research Director for the Energy for Growth Hub

Video Presentation: Move over, Silicon Valley. The Midwest is Poised to Drive Clean Energy Innovation

Panel 2: How much can innovation really solve?

Moderator
Dr. Jennifer Haverkamp, the Graham Family Director of the Graham Sustainability Institute at the University of Michigan

Panelists
Dr. Lisa D. Cook, Professor in the Department of Economics and at James Madison College at Michigan State University and former Senior Economic Advisor for the Obama Council of Economic Advisors
Julian Brave Noisecat, Vice President of Policy & Strategy, Data For Progress
Joseph Majkut, Director of Climate Policy, Niskannen Center
Michael Craig, Assistant Professor in Energy Systems, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

Lightening Round of University of Michigan Graduate Work

Leah Adelman, Amanda Farthing, Kaitlyn Barr, and Dominic Bednar

Closing Remarks

Josh Freed, Senior Vice President of Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program

Tuesday, September 29: Climate, Clean Energy and Jobs

Noon - 2PM ET

Opening Remarks

Lindsey Walter, Senior Policy Advisor, Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program

Tony G. Reames, Assistant Professor, Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan

Modeling Presentation

Lindsey Walter, Senior Policy Advisor, Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program

Conrad Schneider, Advocacy Director, Clean Air Task Force

Lesley Jantarasami, Associate Director for Energy and Climate, Bipartisan Policy Center

Ben Haley, Co-Founder, Evolved Energy Research

Fireside Chat: Is There a Trade-off Between Climate Action and Jobs

Moderator
Julia Pyper, Host and Producer, Political Climate
Guest

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology

Panel: Making Climate Action Equitable

Moderator
Monica Medina, Founder and Publisher, Our Daily Planet
Panelists
Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (D-WI), NewDEAL Leader
Michelle Martinez, Coordinator, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Chief Equity Officer, Partnership for Southern Equity
Jason Walsh, Executive Director, BlueGreen Alliance

Keynote Remarks

Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist (D-MI), NewDEAL Leader

Clean Energy Businesses Survey Presentation

Dr. Ellen Hughes Cromwick, Senior Resident Fellow of a Clean Energy Economy at Third Way

Closing Remarks

Todd Allen, Chair and Professor, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences NERS at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, October 6: What does the 2020 campaign tell us about the future of climate action?

Noon – 2 PM

Opening Remarks

Andria McClellan, Norfolk City Councilwoman and NewDEAL Leader

Video Presentation

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Fireside Chat: Third Way's 2020 Election Assessment

Panel: What Do Voters Want

Moderator
Justin Worland, Correspondent, TIME
Panelists
Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Former North Dakota Senator and Co-Founder of One Country Project
Brian Stryker, Partner, ALG Research
Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

Fireside Chat: Climate and the 2020 Presidential Election

Moderator
Lisa Friedman, Reporter, The New York Times
Guests
Heather McTeer Toney, National Field Director of Mom’s Clean Air Force and former Southeast Regional Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, Obama Administration
Mike Catanzaro, President and Chief Policy Officer of CGCN, and former Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Energy and Environmental Policy, White House National Economic Council, Trump Administration

Closing Remarks

Todd Allen, Chair and Professor, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences NERS at the University of Michigan
Josh Freed, Senior Vice President, Climate and Energy, Third Way

After registering below, you will receive emails about new speakers as well as how to navigate the Whova platform. Fastest Path to Zero has always been about connecting communities and leaders for solutions to our common goal, and Whova allows us to create that community virtually.