Beyond Rhetoric: How the US can Help Enhance European Energy Security
| July 30, 2014 |
| 12:30pm – 2:00pm |
| Location: 1100 New York Avenue, NW 7th Floor, West Tower |
The shale gas boom has already benefited the United States at home. New developments mean that it could provide greater energy security for America’s allies around the world: a valuable new tool of diplomacy.
We see how America’s NATO allies are challenged in their reaction to the continuing events in Ukraine by their complicated energy relationships to Russia. Exports of American natural gas can help disentangle those relationships, and many NATO allies are actively supporting increased exports from the US. On the other hand, we know American LNG exports will not occur overnight and that the federal government cannot direct gas shipments to Europe.
What can the US do in the short term to enhance European energy security? And, how can the US most effectively utilize its energy resources as a tool of diplomacy?
Join American Security Project on July 30, 2014 as a panel of distinguished experts will discuss LNG and the concrete steps that the United States can take to help enhance Europe’s Energy Security.
Lunch will be served prior to the event from 12:00pm – 12:30pm
(Early response is encouraged, as space is limited)
Speakers
Ambassador Žygimantas Pavilionis
Ambassador Pavilionis was appointed to be the Ambassador of Lithuania to the United States in 2010. Prior to this, he worked in key positions with the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of European Integration, and the Lithuanian Permanent Mission in Brussels. In 2004, Ambassador Pavilionis served as ambassador-at-large as well as the chief coordinator for both Lithuania’s presidency of the Community of Democracies and the Transatlantic Cooperation and Security Policy Department.
Charles McConnell
In 2013, after serving two years as the Assistant Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, Mr. Charles McConnell became the Executive Director of the Energy and Environment Initiative at Rice University. Prior to this, McConnell worked in many facets of the energy industry, devoting over 30 years to the global hydrogen business with Praxair, Inc.
Robin Dunnigan
Robin Dunnigan is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, currently serving as the Acting Deputy Secretary for Energy Diplomacy in the Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources. During her 22-year career in the Foreign Service, Ms. Dunnigan has served overseas in Vietnam, Chile, Turkey, Cuba, and El Salvador. In Washington, she worked as the Jordan/Lebanon economic office in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and on the staff of the Secretary os State in the 24-hour Operations Center.
