Capital Solutions for a Sustainable Future

Erika Anderson, CEES Research Associate

India’s rapid economic growth, coupled with millions of citizens living with little or no access to electricity, creates a pressing need for increased power generating capacity and efficient power management in India. Many areas of rural India remain, at present, disconnected from traditional power sources and grids and lack sufficient infrastructure to install major, centralized power plants. As a result, distributed clean-energy technologies have the potential to provide appropriate technological solutions that avoid both the inherent costs associated with installing large-scale power production facilities, as well as the costs, risks, and future catastrophic effects of investing in traditional energy sources under a “business as usual” scenario.

But U.S. clean-energy businesses wishing to participate in the clean-energy sector in India need to have a strong understanding of the interrelation between Indian and U.S. national policy, international law, and market opportunities. At present there is no single  resource that offers a comprehensive picture of how these bodies of law and policy combine to affect the clean energy-sector. While numerous governmental, corporate, academic, and other publications address individual aspects of the relevant information, the scattered nature of the information makes it difficult and time consuming to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the policy framework and ensuing economic opportunities.

Capital Solutions for a Sustainable Future (Capital Solutions) promotes the exchange of clean-energy technology between the U.S. and India by providing research and networking tools that lower the costs of acquiring strategic planning information.

See Capital Solutions, Page 7

Zebrowski (continued...)

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mariah did her undergraduate work at Princeton University, where she studied under Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, one of the lead authors of the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Mariah graduated with honors in 2005, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a Certificate in Environmental Studies.

After Princeton, Mariah took a year off from school to camp across the United States with her boyfriend, Austin Leach. They visited all 48 contiguous states and over 40 National Parks and National Monuments. Witnessing the amazing and varied natural wonders of the United States reinforced Mariah’s desire to learn the principles of sound environmental management and led her to the dual degree program at the University of Colorado.

Despite being a busy first-year law student last year, donating time to the then-burgeoning Energy and Environmental Security Initiative (now the full-fledged and thriving CEES) was a clear choice for Mariah. She jumped right in to EESI’s projects, researching and writing sections of EESI’s report, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading: Emerging Markets and Opportunities for Colorado,” which was prepared for the Colorado General Assembly. Specifically, Mariah authored the sections on judicial action on climate change and emissions reductions by energy and utility companies.

Mariah’s second semester as a law student brought even more challenges. When CEES didn’t have anyone to create and launch an e-newsletter as its public face, Mariah volunteered to learn from scratch how to design and manage one. After a self-taught crash course, Mariah produced a variety of potential mock-ups of the newsletter for the staff to choose from, and the bi-monthly CEES News that you are now reading was born. CEES News now has almost 3,000 recipients.

With her tremendous success designing and distributing CEES News, Mariah was asked if she would be willing to take over coordinating CEES events. After successfully hosting a few low-key lunchtime brown-bag meetings for law students, she found herself heading up last July’s public “Envisioning Energy” event, featuring U.S. Congressman Mark Udall, Colorado House Majority Leader Alice Madden, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Jim Martin, Director of the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office Tom Plant, and the British Consul General in Denver Kevin Lynch. Again, starting from scratch, Mariah managed to make one of CEES’ early events a huge success.

Since “Envisioning Energy” last July, Mariah has coordinated ten other successful CEES events. The public response to these events has been extremely positive, with the last three events filling the courtroom to far beyond capacity and requiring an overflow room with a simulcast of the speakers. Most recently, Mariah has coordinated CEES’ March 18th event, a debate on U.S. energy and climate policy by candidates for Colorado’s Second Congressional District: Jared Polis, Joan Fitz-Gerald, and Will Shafroth.

Of course, Mariah could never do all this tremendous work on her own. CEES staff and first-year volunteers are crucial to making both CEES News and CEES events a reality. Colorado Law School’s IT staff also plays a vital role in making sure CEES events go off without a hitch. Even Mariah’s boyfriend   Austin, the pseudo-CEES employee, helps with web design issues and stays late to clean up after events.

But Mariah has contributed greatly to CEES’ growth and success. In  recognition, Mariah was awarded the first-ever CEES Cindy Carlisle Distinguished Service Award on December 3, 2007. In presenting the award, University Provost Phil DiStefano said, “It is rare to have a student that is possessed of the ability, dedication and charm of Mariah, and CEES is very proud to count her as one of their staff.”