Okay, second panel. Yall ready . And just like before, start out with Opening Statements from all the panelists followed by questions from members and i recognize thomas fanning. President and ceo of Southern Company. Hes here on behalf of electricity sub sector counsel. Tom, you have five minutes for your opening statement. Microphone please. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to testify today. My name is tom fanning. I am the chairman, president , and ceo of Southern Company and past chairman of the Edison Electric institute, the association that represents all the u. S. Investorowned electric companies. Im addressing you today as my role as one of three cochairs of the council. We collaborate closely with our colleagues from public power utilities and rural cooperatives on escc. Im pleased to address the subcommittee and to chair the steps the electric Power Industry is taking to make Energy Infrastructure smarter and more resilient. Allowing us to continue delivering affordable a
So it was the town who did it. Thank you. [applause] good evening. Im the Program Director here at the town hall and its my pleasure to welcome you to this evenings event presented by by telephone and University Bookstore as part of the seattle lectures. The purpose to of the caucuses by microsoft sponsorship provided. Our program will run for about 40 minutes tonight and after that we will have time for questions. We ask that you come to the microphones at the end of the stage so we can pick you up for the recording we are making and also that cspan is making. So brighter than usual tonight and then tonights program will be available through the Media Library on the website and then after the qanda books at the bookstore table on the other sides of the curtains here in the town hall cafe space will stay open for another few minutes if you want to chat about what weve heard tonight. Before i introduced against i want to mention a couple other events that might be of interest. The fall
Region. We can be a partner to anybody who wants us to partner with them in the fight against sectarianism and others. We are there, and we will still be there. Iran will always be our neighbor. Bear that in mind in any evaluation you have. The region itself is going through tremendous social, political upheaval. The arab spring has been hijacked. No clear mandate to the governments in the region governing pre as in comparison to prearab spring. So please bear that in mind. So in that sense, i would say that in iraq you have a reliable partner, but at the same time, help us to help you in the fight against international terrorism. Somebody asked us the other day, a question a senior official said to me he said lukman lets say we get rid of isis will you be a partner with us against isis elsewhere or are you content with just iraq . My response is no. We know we will have a responsibility that we will take seriously, but we have an urgency now which we want you to help us with, and let
Agencies in america that are also engaged directly or indirectly in the administration of our tax code as well. Please join me in thanking senator lee and senator rubio. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you. Next week the United States will begin chairing the Arctic Council, a group that sets policy for the arctic, regarding drilling and other issues. Eight countries are members of the Arctic Council, the u. S. , canada, denmark, finland iceland, norway, russia, and sweden. And this morning at the center for strategic and International Studies the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, police leesiae ia Lisa Murkowski of alaska, is speaking. Some of the issues also facing the arctic such as Climate Change, pollution and the health of the Indigenous People who live in the arctic the discussion expected to last several hours should get under way shortly. This meeting happening, this International Meeting happening as a number of other International Ministers and lead
Demonstrating technologies in transparent manners. So that means in some sort of public manner, whether its through the work of the National Labs. We have the work of National Labs across the country that are part of the department of energy. Whether its through public, private partnerships and many of which are referenced and surveyed in the study or through academic work, but in order for policymakers to rely on science and Technology Demonstration in policy making, that work is going to have to be done in a transparent manner that the public can have confidence in. I think you will see quite a few of the recommendations in the study have that in mind and we very much look forward in identifying ways that the department of energy can be part of that continued resource and that demonstration. The many will ask why the arctic, why now outside of this leadership imperative when we have such a tremendous abundance of domestic oil and gas in the lower 48, and the simple answer to that que