Subject: October London meeting

Herewith a few ideas for the October meeting in London, some of them after checking with Paul Portney and with Pankaj.
I offer these very, very preliminary thoughts just to start you thinking - do you want your UK colleagues on the program; do we want some ancillary events?
After getting your views on questions such as these, I can make more definite suggestions.
I certainly think that we should convene a few hours before the opening dinner so that the advisors can have a tour of the building and the facilities.
Also, I am hoping that Steve will leave some time on this trip for a tour of the new BA headquarters - very innovative.
We should consider doing something on the global warming question from the viewpoint of the Europeans.
Start with three recommendations on the political side that Paul received from David Victor of the Council on Foreign Relations (characterized as "a VERY smart guy on climate"): Tony Brenton (Deputy chief of mission, UK embassy in DC.
Has been on UK climate delegations for a decade; smart and lively; pragmatic; insightful).
Bo Kjellen (Swedish head of delegation; knows European politics inside out; big figure in Europe).
Tubiana, Laurence (Conseil d'Analyse Economique, France; knows the issue and can speak to French position, but may not have the gravitas of Kjellen or Brenton).
Among other ideas (I have winnowed out several) is a guy named Liam Salter at Climate Network Europe.
Brussels based, but relatively junior.
Paul also recommends a woman by the name of Laurence Tubiana, an economist in the French government's equivalent of the CEA; she has a reputation as a good presenter and a good economist.
WOULD YOU PLEASE CHECK THESE FOLKS OUT WITH YOUR LONDON PEOPLE, AND GET ADDITIONAL NAMES FROM THEM.
THE GOAL IS TO GIVE ALL OF US A PERSPECTIVE ON THE EUROPEAN VIEW ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES - UNLESS YOU THINK THAT NOT A USEFUL TOPIC.
I turn now to Pankaj's suggestion, which I transmit verbatim: "I remember promising to scout around and see if there were a European whom it would be interesting to invite to talk to the Enron International Advisory Council about the (non) convergence of governance structures in Europe, particularly on the Continent, to the U.S. model.
I got the following names from Jay Lorsch (apparently all members of the committee steering a multifaculty Harvard business School project on governance in comparative perspective) as possibilities.
Jay suggested that Sihler would be best (former CEO of Henkel, very senior),  Peter's second best (apparently, chairman of Amsterdam Stock Exchange now) and Smith - formerly Managing partner at Price Waterhouse Coopers - would be the most junior of the three.
I don't personally know any of the three."
Now some ideas of my own, again acting on the assumption that we want a two-way educational dialogue - to give your folks in London and Europe a run-down on the situation in the US, and the US contingent a better understanding of how European policymakers view the issues we all face.
1.Bill Kristol on the US political scene, in which there is great interest here, and great misunderstanding of the Bush administration.
We might also consider inviting Larry Lindsey or some other Bush person if allowed to do so.
2.
Someone on the European view on global warming (see suggestions above).
3.
Energy regulation in the UK.
Callum McCarthy.
4.
Economic outlook.
Gavyn Davies (usual talk).
5.
What went wrong in California (great interest in that over here) and how to fix it.
Steve could do this, or you could invite Bill Hogan (just joking) or the chairman of FERC if we are allowed to pay his way.
6.
Motivating people in a multinational, multicultural organization.
If this is of interest, I can get recommendations for speakers.
7.
I would be inclined to add a high-level speaker on the state of US-UK-European relations, perhaps as a dinner speaker.
Between Gavyn and me, we might be able to get Chancellor Gordon Brown, a very interesting guy, and the inventor of the "climate change levy" that is driving industry in this country nuts.
Please look this over.
Steve and I have to get together, preferably with Ken, which leads me to suggest Aspen during the Institute's energy forum, which I understand Ken will be attending.
But if that is not feasible, Steve and I can work out a date for a preliminary meeting, followed up by one with Ken at his convenience.
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