Establishing a Durable Governance Framework for Energy Policy

American Academy Of Arts And Sciences (Aaas), Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Energy policies must be both durable and flexible in order to address economic, environmental, and geopolitical challenges and to ensure national competitiveness and security. The science of how to design durable policy, however, is underdeveloped, with expertise fragmented and often overly specialized. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences will conduct a workshop to explore how energy policies can be designed to better manage the introduction of new energy technologies. The workshop will pay particular attention to the question of how to design policies that are sustainable over several decades yet adaptable to new scientific and technological information. Workshop participants will examine the conflict between the need to provide consistent signals to stakeholders and the need to make energy policy responsive to new information. They will discuss how to develop effective evaluation approaches and will produce a multidisciplinary agenda for future research. With representatives from academia, government, industry, and nongovernmental organizations, the workshop will develop a deeper understanding of how energy policies can encourage technological innovation and promote sustainable resource use.