Douglas Durante & Jerry Taylor

Mon., Oct. 15, 2007 | 7:00 p.m.

"Ethanol: Fueling Debate" [The Charles and Linda Wilson Dialogue on Domestic Issues]

Is ethanol a genuine answer to climate crisis and energy woes or a smoke-and-mirrors solution with no real benefit? Designed to explore all sides of this many-faceted issue, the inaugural Charles and Linda Wilson Dialogue on Domestic Issues brings together two noted experts for a moderated debate on this topic of critical interest to our nation and our state.

Douglas A. Durante - Executive Director, Clean Fuels Development Coalition

Douglas Durante has worked in the fields of energy, transportation, and the environment since 1977. He was the Director of Public Affairs for the National Alcohol Fuels Commission and served as a Special Assistant in the Office of Alcohol Fuels at the U.S. Department of Energy. Mr. Durante has served on numerous state and federal advisory committees, including Chair of the Fuels Subcommittee of the Federal Biomass Advisory Committee and on the Governors' Ethanol Coalition's Biomass Advisory Committee. He also served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Fuels Advisory Committee, and the Department of Energy's Business Roundtable Advisory Group. In 1987, Durante helped form the Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC), a non-profit organization. The CFDC works in support of renewable alcohols and has a broad-based membership including automotive, agricultural, and other alternative energy interests.

Jerry Taylor - Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

Jerry Taylor is the most widely cited and influential right-of-center critic of federal energy and environmental policy in the nation. Taylor is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal and National Review and has published op-eds in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and virtually every other important newspaper in the country. He is a regular guest on CNBC and Bloomberg Radio and has also appeared frequently on the major news networks as well as CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, Public Radio International, and the BBC. Taylor has served on numerous congressional advisory bodies and has testified frequently on Capitol Hill regarding various energy and environmental policy matters. He is the author or coauthor of numerous policy studies and has contributed to several anthologies, including Energy & American Society - 13 Myths, Market Liberalism: A New Paradigm for the 21st Century, The Cato Handbook for Congress, China as a Global Economic Power: Market Reforms and the New Millennium, and Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet.