Lessons from Working Across the Aisle on Climate Policy
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McGowan MG102McGowan Building
411 Pacific St
Monterey, CA 93940 View in Campus Map
Free
Open to the Public
Are bi-partisan efforts for climate solutions still possible? Allie Chapman has been working on marine carbon dioxide removal policy on the hill since February, and will give us her take.
Lessons from Working Across the Aisle on Climate Policy
Speaker: Alessandra Chapman, Congressional Fellow, House of Representatives
Monday, October 21, 2024
6:00pm to 7:30pm Pacific Time
In-person event (Zoom option may become available)
McGowan 102
411 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940
About the Topic
Congressional Fellow and MIIS EPM student Allie Chapman will discuss her experience on the Hill and the start to finish process of advancing Federal climate and energy policy. As a staffer with a committee within the House of Representatives, Allie has worked since February primarily on a project to draft comprehensive legislation on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) that would establish a research program under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Energy (DOE). The program would facilitate a requirement for a national research plan and the establishment of Federally funded research centers.
This legislation will be the first to purely focus on advancing research and development for all mCDR approaches, and its associated hearing will be the first opportunity for experts to speak directly to members of Congress on the topic. Allie will discuss her experience and the different steps that were necessary to gain consensus in the community and finalize a draft text: from initial research and stakeholder engagement, to working with the relevant Federal agencies. She will also break down the different mCDR approaches mentioned in the legislation and discuss her experience leading a largely bipartisan effort during such turbulent political times.
About the Speaker
Alessandra (Allie) Chapman is a current MIIS student in the Environmental Policy and Management program and Congressional Fellow with the House of Representatives.
Allie graduated from the University of Delaware in 2016 and went on to serve 5 years active duty in the US Air Force as an Air Battle Manager. She worked with members of eighteen different foreign air forces to support the NATO mission of safeguarding the Alliance. After leaving the military, Allie spent a year traveling and teaching English in Thailand before finding her way to MIIS.
As a student at MIIS, Allie has interned for CNFA—a USAID contracted nonprofit—in Washington, D.C. and the UNFCCC in Bonn, Germany. She also worked as a Sustainability Grad Assistant to improve the campus’s greenhouse gas audits. She has worked on the Hill since January and looks forward to graduating in May 2025!
Recommended Reading
- Strategy for NOAA Carbon Dioxide Removal Research (NOAA)
- A Research Strategy for Ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal and Sequestration (The National Academies Press)
- Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal Methods (EDF, NRDC, the Ocean Council)
Event Location: McGowan Building, Room 102
The McGowan Building is located at 411 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA, 93940, on the campus of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Attendees should enter through the glass doors from Pacific Street, and the MG102 is located inside to the right. View the campus map.
Zoom Link (TBD)
This is a free event, open to the public. No registration is needed. This is an in-person event, but live-stream via Zoom may be available, and the event may be recorded. Details will be added here as we know more.
Parking
Parking is available in any Middlebury Institute campus lot after 5 p.m., no parking permit required, no fee. View the campus map. (be sure to not confuse city lots with campus lots—city lots do charge a fee). Free parking is also available on the street (time limits on surrounding streets end at 6 p.m.).
Questions
Contact Rachel Christopherson at the Center for the Blue Economy at cbe@miis.edu or (831) 647-4183.
Gratitude to Our Sponsors
We thank the Loker Hicks Foundation and the Nancy Eccles and Homer M. Hayward Family Foundation our sponsors.
About the Host
The Center for the Blue Economy is a research center at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, that provides economic and policy analysis to support the development of a robust and equitable blue economy for the 21st century. The Center uses the World Bank’s definition of the Blue Economy: the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health. We must maintain ocean health to maintain human health, economic health, and the health of the planet. Climate change is linked, inextricably, to a healthy ocean. We are co-leading a movement for Ocean Climate Action Now. Consider joining our Center for the Blue Economy Newsletter List (3-4x per year by email).