Ernest Moniz, U.S. Energy Secretary, Has UCI Appearance Spiked by Federal Shutdown

See the update at the end of this post about the cancellation of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz's appearance at UC Irvine Thursday due to the federal government shutdown.

ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 1, 10:55 A.M.: United States Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz is a last-minute addition to the UC Irvine School of Law's first-ever Emerging Issues in Environmental Law Policy and Practice Symposium this Thursday afternoon.

Appointed in May, Moniz being here presents “a rare opportunity for UC Irvine students, faculty and staff to engage with President Obama's new Energy Secretary,” boasts the law school. He is scheduled to speak from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the UCI Student Center's Crystal Cove Auditorium.

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According to his DOE biography:

Prior to his appointment, Dr. Moniz was the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was a faculty member since 1973. At MIT, he headed the Department of Physics and the Bates Linear Accelerator Center. Most recently, Dr. Moniz served as the founding Director of the MIT Energy Initiative and of the MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment and was a leader of multidisciplinary technology and policy studies on the future of nuclear power, coal, nuclear fuel cycles, natural gas, and solar energy in a low-carbon world.

From 1997 until January 2001, Dr. Moniz served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy. He was responsible for overseeing the Department's science and energy programs, leading a comprehensive review of nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship, and serving as the Secretary's special negotiator for the disposition of Russian nuclear materials. From 1995 to 1997, he served as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.

In addition to his work at MIT, the White House, and the Department of Energy, Dr. Moniz has served on a number of boards of directors and commissions involving science, energy and security. These include President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee, and the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Moniz is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Humboldt Foundation, and the American Physical Society.

So, yeah, it's quite a catch for a first-ever event, which is co-sponsored by is the law school's Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources and Sheppard, Mullin, and Richter N Hampton LLP.

In Irvine, Moniz is expected to “share his perspectives on the clean energy revolution and the new initiatives he brings to the office,” according to the law school. “The Secretary is eager to hear from the UC Irvine campus community, particularly from students who will be the nation's future energy scientists, policy-makers and consumers.”

Hmm, wonder if he'll stick around town this weekend for his Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon and XPO at Irvine's Great Park? Part of the event finds the university hosting the California Challenge, a national student “green” car race featuring high school and college teams that have designed and built alternative fuel vehicles from scratch seeing whose can go the farthest on just $1 worth of energy. Winners will be announced Sunday afternoon.

The overall symposium topic Thursday is “The Collision of Energy Development and Environmental Laws.” Here's how it's described:

Rapidly changing around the world, energy development poses new economic and environmental challenges on a daily basis. Many companies are making long-term investment and supply chain decisions based upon climate change models. “Zero” emission vehicles have changed the point of emissions from the tailpipe to the power plant, but those emissions are only as “clean” as the source that generates the power. Laws and regulations are adapting to the changing world of energy development, and this year's conference discusses the law, politics and policies influencing these changes.

The full program–with Moniz's speech plopped right in the middle–runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the UCI School of Law's Room EDU 1111. CLE credits (6.5) are available to students.

Full list of speakers: http://www.law.uci.edu/ecards/cleanr2013-emerging-issues.html.

Required symposium registration: https://ucisl.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/FirstAnnualEmergingIssuesinEnvironmentalLaw/tabid/487708/Default.aspx.

Directions: http://www.law.uci.edu/about/directions.html.

Registration Moniz speech registration: http://www.eng.uci.edu/moniztalk.

UPDATE, OCT. 2, 10:24 A.M.: This just in from Cathy Lawhon of UCI's Communications Office:

“U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz today cancelled his planned Thursday, Oct. 3, visit to UC Irvine, due to Congress' failure to pass budget legislation.”

“The Collision of Energy Development and Environmental Laws” symposium soldiers on, however.

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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