Douglas Durante has worked in the fields of energy, transportation, and the environment since 1977. He was the Director of Public Affairs for the National Alcohol Fuels Commission and served as a Special Assistant in the Office of Alcohol Fuels at the U.S. Department of Energy. Mr. Durante has served on numerous state and federal advisory committees, including Chair of the Fuels Subcommittee of the Federal Biomass Advisory Committee and on the Governors' Ethanol Coalition's Biomass Advisory Committee. He also served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Fuels Advisory Committee, and the Department of Energy's Business Roundtable Advisory Group. In 1987, Durante helped form the Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC), a non-profit organization. The CFDC works in support of renewable alcohols and has a broad-based membership including automotive, agricultural, and other alternative energy interests. Jerry Taylor is the most widely cited and influential right-of-center critic of federal energy and environmental policy in the nation. Taylor is a frequent contributor to the 'Wall Street Journal' and 'National Review' and has published op-eds in the 'Washington Post,' 'New York Times,' 'Los Angeles Times,' and virtually every other important newspaper in the country. He is a regular guest on CNBC and Bloomberg Radio and has also appeared frequently on the major news networks as well as CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, Public Radio International, and the BBC. Taylor has served on numerous congressional advisory bodies and has testified frequently on Capitol Hill regarding various energy and environmental policy matters. He is the author or coauthor of numerous policy studies and has contributed to several anthologies, including 'Energy & American Society - 13 Myths,' 'Market Liberalism: A New Paradigm for the 21st Century,' 'The Cato Handbook for Congress,' 'China as a Global Economic Power: Market Reforms and the New Millennium,' and 'Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet.'
Series Description
A cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues began in 1988 as part of a mission to promote better understanding of world events and issues by Nebraskans. The Forum seeks out forceful speakers who are committed to the issues they address, seeking balance over the range of its programs rather than in each presentation. The Forum does not endorse the views of the individual speakers nor limit their freedom to express their points of view.