The Aaron Harber Show: The Energy Roundtable Summit™

Creating A Comprehensive National Energy Plan

The Aaron Harber Show: The Energy Roundtable Summit TM — Creating A Comprehensive National Energy Plan” is a nonpartisan, educational series focused on developing a complete and factually-honest National Energy Planby facing the reality that the United States does not have a truly comprehensive National Energy Plan based on a broad consensus of stakeholders due to the conflicting goals of many stakeholder groups.  This “Energy Summit” will directly address this need by involving all the parties interested in Energy Policy and seeking common ground.

What is different about this initiative is, rather than separately hear from those with conflicting perspectives at different times at various fora or on numerous programs (where claims often are exaggerated and unsubstantiated), those with divergent perspectives — from top regulators to industry representatives to technical experts to environmental groups to other interested parties — will speak together and hear each other — in some cases, for the first time.

A second major difference is, because the parties in conflict will spend time with each otherthey will have the opportunity to listen to each other, work cooperatively to determine what facts are not in dispute, assess where they have common ground, and actually try to develop solutions to key challenges.  This approach will make “The Energy Roundtable Summit” dramatically different from the vast number of conferences, fora, and programs related to energy and environmental issues that are held every year.
USA Talk Network has already demonstrated its ability to do this, specifically in the energy arena.  Its educational series on Hydraulic Fracturing and related issues was the pilot project demonstrating the potential value and success of this model.  The programming broadcast to date can be viewed at www.bit.ly/FracTV.
This initiative will bring together members of the House and Senate as well as representatives of the Administration, representatives of the all facets of the Energy Industry (including both domestic and international participants), and various stakeholder groups in an effort to begin a serious dialog regarding the development of a National Energy Plan.  The project’s moderator, Aaron Harber, and “The Energy Roundtable” team are uniquely positioned to do this due to their extensive relationships with all of these entities and the fact the programs always have been seen as unbiased and nonpartisan.

The Energy Roundtable Summit” is part of meeting America’s need for a nonpartisan forum where the nation’s most critically important issues can be discussed and debated in a civil, mutually-respectful, and fact-based manner.

Today the reality is various energy-related policies have been developed and modified over time from one Administration to another, with Congress having its own changing agendas which often were not synchronized in any way with whatever Administration was in control of the Executive Branch of government.  As a result, not only has there rarely been agreement on what America’s plan and strategy should be but policies often have been adopted which were in conflict.

The Energy Roundtable Summit” presentations, debates and discussions being proposed will address these challenges in a manner which helps educate both policy-makers and the public about the key aspects of Energy issues.  The event also will seek to improve the communication among diverse stakeholders and government officials with the intent of helping to find ways for those with conflicting views to work together to find common ground.

Unlike other forums, which tend to either be dominated by one perspective and which avoid resolving conflict, one of the goals of “The Energy Roundtable Summit” will be to identify common ground and develop actual solutions to America’s most pressing energy and environmental problems — all in the context of the nation’s long-term economic challenges.

With President Barack Obama’s “All of the above” declaration asserting the United States needs to move forward on every energy front, the Administration now could be poised to align itself with many segments of the Energy Industry as well as environmental interests in a manner unforeseen by anyone on any side of the issues which have been contentious for years.

The principal question now is “What does and what should ‘All of the above’ mean for (1) the providers, regulators, and consumers of different energy resources in the USA and (2) those who have interests in and serious concerns about Energy Policies in the United States (including environmental and conservation groups)?”

The television series will take on the most challenging issues related to the development and efficacious use of all energy resources and will include environmental ramifications.  The principal programs are scheduled to be taped at the Congressional Auditorium in the nation’s Capital for the convenience of the members of the U.S. House and Senate, their staff members, and members of the Administration and their staffers, all of whom will be invited to attend.  Historic Ford’s Theatre also has been offered as a taping location and also is being seriously considered as is the Morton Auditorium at The George Washington University.

The latter was built for television productions and was created for the original version of CNN’s “CROSSFIRE” series.  The Morton Auditorium was the location used by USA Talk Network for the production of “The Great Economics Debate: What Is America’s Financial Future?” featuring Senator Alan Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles as well as U.N. Foundation President Tim Wirth, former CBO Director and OMB Director and Federal Reserve Vice Chair Alice Rivlin, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President & Chief Economist Marty Regalia, AFL-CIO Chief Economist and Economics Professor William Spriggs, Economics Professor and former U.S. International Trade Commission Chief Economist Peter Morici, and CATO Institute Tax Policy Director Chris Edwards.  These programs can be viewed at www.bit.ly/FiscalDebate.

The initiative is being advised by(1) Richard Newell, Director of the Duke University Energy Initiative and the former Administrator of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration,  (2) Michael Schwartz,, the CEO of New Wave Energy Capital Partners (and former Senior Vice President at DUKE Energy), and (3) former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, the Executive Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy, among others.

The series will consist of several half-hour programs which engage key stakeholders — serving to open new lines of communication throughout the country.  Guests will include energy industry leaders and experts, energy rights owners, government regulators, other public officials, environmental groups and key environmentalists, consumers, academicians, the media, energy trade associations, labor associations, citizen activists, and other stakeholders.  Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund, already is one of the confirmed participants.

All aspects of the world of energy — such as energy development, energy use and conservation, energy sources (including renewables), energy independence, population growth, energy economics, environmental issues, energy demand, sustainability, tax policies, energy security, and government regulation (including some of the most specific controversial issues such as hydraulic fracking, emissions controls, energy subsidies, et cetera) — will be considered for inclusion in the series.

The Energy Roundtable” is the Public Affairs show which provides access to more guests with energy-related expertise and interests than any other television programming in the United States.  .  An illustrative sampling of the more than 100 guests interviewed for “The Energy Roundtable” series (many of whom can be seen 24/7 online at www.bit.ly/EnergyShows) includes:

  • MIT Energy Initiative Director Bob Armstrong
  • National Renewable Energy Lab Director Dan Arvizu
  • Congressman and Livable Communities Leader Earl Blumenauer
  • Center on Global Energy Policy Director Jason Bordoff
  • Former Colorado Oil & Gas Assoc. President Howard Boigon
  • Environmental Defense Fund Energy Program Deputy Director Mark Brownstein
  • Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans & Programs Sharon Burke
  • Vice Minister of Energy for the Ministry of Mines & Energy of Colombia Orlando Cabrales
  • AVATAR” and ‘Titanic” Award-Winning Film Director and Environmentalist James Cameron
  • Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy Mauricio Cárdenas
  • Energy North America Managing Partner Jack Coleman
  • Academy Award-winning Actor and Environmental Entrepreneur Kevin Costner
  • Cirque Resources President & CEO and former Western Gas President & CEO Peter Dea
  • VESTAS CEO Ditlev Engel
  • WorldWatch Institute President Chris Flavin
  • Actress and Environmental Activist Darryl Hannah
  • Mercator Energy President, and Director, Western Energy Alliance John Harpole
  • Colorado Governor and former Petroleum Geologist John Hickenlooper
  • Former IHS Chief Energy Strategist David Hobbs
  • Citizens for Affordable Energy CEO & SHELL Oil Company (USA) President John Hofmeister
  • White House Office of Science & Technology Policy Director John Holdren
  • U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy & Enduring Energy CEO Kristina Johnson
  • U.S. EPA Administrator and Cabinet member Lisa Jackson
  • Regional CEO for Asia Pacific ERM Keryn James
  • Environment Colorado Director Elise Jones
  • The Wilderness Society Colorado Office Regional Director Suzanne Jones
  • Green Investor and Sun Micro founder Vinod Khosla
  • Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp
  • Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Cheryl LaFleur
  • Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Executive Director Matt LePore
  • STATOIL ASA President & CEO Helge Lund
  • U.S. Congressman Edward Markey
  • Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator James Martin
  • Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy Hernan Martinez Torres
  • Award-winning Weeden & Co. Energy Industry Analyst Charley Maxwell
  • Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon
  • CH2MHill CEO Lee McIntire
  • Minister of Energy, Alberta, Canada Diana McQueen
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Phillip Moeller
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative Executive Director Ernest Moniz
  • ANADARKO Vice President of Marketing Scott Moore
  • Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Executive Director David Neslin
  • Former Director of the Energy Information Administration Richard Newell
  • SHELL Oil Company (USA) President Marvin Odum
  • Former Colorado Governor and Director of Front Range Resources Bill Owens
  • U.S. Energy Secretary and Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena
  • Petrie Parkman CEO (now Bank of America Vice President) Tom Petrie
  • Oilman and “Pickens Plan” creator T. Boone Pickens
  • TransCanada, Energy and Oil Pipeline President Alex Pourbaix
  • PEMEX Director General and former Ambassador to the U.S. Jesús Frederico Reyes Heroles
  • National Oil Spill Commission Co-Chair & former EPA Administrator William Reilly
  • Solar Energy Industries Association President & CEO Rhone Resch
  • Apollo Alliance President and former National Wildlife Federation Chairman Jerome Ringo
  • Center for the New Energy Economy Director and former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
  • CHEVRON Vice-Chairman Peter Robertson
  • Group Chief Economist & Vice President BP Christof Rühl
  • DUKE Energy Chairman & CEO Jim Rogers
  • U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former U.S. Senator Ken Salazar
  • National Wildlife Federation Associate Counsel (Rocky Mountain Region) Michael Saul
  • Laricina Energy President & CEO Glen Schmidt,
  • Agriculture Dept. Under Secretary & Colo. Natural Resources Exec. Director Harris Sherman
  • Colorado Oil & Gas Association President & CEO Tisha Conoly Schuller
  • Simmons Companies, Int’l President Matthew Simmons
  • U.S. Department of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Christopher Smith
  • SIEMENS (USA) President & CEO Eric Spiegel
  • IHS CEO Jerre Stead
  • London School of Economics Professor & Global Energy Expert Sir Nicholas Stern
  • Pioneer Natural Resources Executive Vice President Jay Still
  • International Energy Agency Director & OECD Science & Tech. Director Nobuo Tanaka
  • Energy Literacy Project Executive Director John Tobin
  • U.S. Senator Mark Udall
  • Energy Expert & CORE Director Randy Udall
  • U.N. Foundation President & former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth
  • Liberty Resources & Liberty Oilfield Services CEO Chris Wright
  • International Energy Expert & former CIA Director James Woolsey
The Energy Roundtable” comes at a critical historical point due to the severe changes in the demand for, impacts of, and pricing of energy along with the debate about various energy-related policies.  Because extraordinary fluctuations in energy costs and environmental concerns have generated elevated levels of public interest in energy-related issues, there is an opportunity to engage the public at a high level.

An opportunity to create a structure for genuine dialogue and solutions now exists.  Because it is the focal point of many of the nation’s most challenging issues related to energy development, Colorado will be used as a national model for developing achievable energy policies.  With oil, gas, solar, hydropower, geothermal, coal, oil shale, wind, and biomass energy activity in the state, Colorado is the ideal location to start the discussion and take it to Washington, DC.

To maximize audience sizes by guaranteeing an initial over-the-air broadcast, the programs are part of the “The Aaron Harber Show TM” – seen on K3 Colorado (KCDO-TV Channel 3) in Denver (the nation’s 16th largest media market).

The Aaron Harber Show” also is broadcast statewide by COMCAST Entertainment Television and KPXC-TV (ION Media Networks).  The shows are available 24/7 worldwide on the Web at www.HarberTV.com.

In addition to being aired by the existing broadcast partners for USA Talk Network, Inc. programming, “The Energy Roundtable” also will be offered for broadcast nationally by USA Talk Network, the production company for “The Aaron Harber Show.”

In an unprecedented broadcast arrangement for USA Talk Network, it is in the process of making an agreement with COMCAST so it can provide access to the program set at no charge to all 25 million COMCAST subscribers (totaling over 60 million viewers) on a 24/7 basis for a full year.  Other broadcast arrangements are being pursued to increase the availability of the programs for all Americans with the ultimate goal of making the programs available to up to 200 million viewers.  Viewer totals will be a function primarily of the funding the event receives.

The Energy Roundtable” programs also will be offered to regional and national networks as well as to all 384 Public Television stations across the country — targeting audiences which need to be better informed on a wide range of energy issues.  USA Talk Network is in discussions with other national broadcast entities so as to maximize the audience for the series.

As a major educational element of “The Energy Roundtable,” the programs will be distributed directly to public officials, regulators, Press members, political activists, and key opinion leaders (as well as their staffs) across the country.  This will be done in the form of links and DVD copies.

A sampling of the other guests who have appeared on “The Aaron Harber Show” includes:

  • Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
  • U.S. and International Forces Commander General John Allen
  • Secretary of State, Treasury Secretary, and White House Chief of Staff James Baker
  • Humor writer and columnist Dave Barry
  • U.S. Surgeon General, Admiral Dr. Regina Benjamin
  • Simpson – Bowles Commission Co-Chair and Former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles
  • Washington Post executive Ben Bradlee
  • Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
  • President Jimmy Carter
  • Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
  • Integrative Medicine pacesetter Dr. Deepak  Chopra
  • The artist Christo
  • NATO Alliance Supreme Commander & presidential candidate General Wesley Clark
  • President Bill Clinton
  • Democratic Nat’l Committee Chair Howard Dean
  • Forbes Inc. Chairman Steve Forbes
  • U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  • Democracy Now” television host Amy Goodman
  • Iraq Study Group Chair, Congressman Lee Hamilton
  • U.S. Senator and Department of Defense Advisory Council Chair Gary Hart
  • Actress and child welfare advocate Goldie Hawn
  • KC Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Hoenig
  • Publisher and commentator Arianna Huffington
  • Washington Post columnist & author David Ignatius
  • TIME Magazine Editor, CNN Chairman & Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson
  • The Reverend Jesse Jackson
  • Congressman, HUD Secretary, and Vice-President nominee Jack Kemp
  • 2004 presidential nominee, U.S. Senator John Kerry
  • CNN Anchor John King
  • New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof
  • Economist, New York Times columnist, and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman
  • PBS Anchor Jim Lehrer
  • Founder of World  Music Taj Mahal
  • Senator George Mitchell
  • FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III
  • Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf
  • Activist and presidential candidate Ralph Nader
  • CRAIGSLIST creator and founder Craig Newmark
  • New York Times columnist Joe Nocera
  • Jordan’s Queen Noor
  • Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist
  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
  • U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson
  • Doctor Mehmet Oz of “The Doctor Oz Show
  • Mother Goose and Grimm” cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize winner Mike Peters
  • General David Petraeus (exclusive in-person interviews at the Pentagon and in Iraq)
  • General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell
  • ABC Reporter Cokie Roberts
  • Ireland President & U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson
  • CBS Anchor Bob Schieffer
  • U.S. Senator and Financial Reform & Responsibility Commission Co-Chair Alan Simpson
  • U.S. Secretary of Labor and the country’s first Latina Cabinet member Hilda Solis
  • Academy Award winning Director Oliver Stone
  • Congressman, presidential candidate Tom Tancredo
  • CNN founder and Media magnate Ted Turner
  • AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
  • U.S. Comptroller General David Walker
  • NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams
To see the show’s 27-second Open, go to www.bit.ly/OpenAH.  For the program’s 7½-minute demonstration reel, please go to  www.bit.ly/TVDemo.   For some of Aaron’s nationally-published columns (including online by the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal), go to Huff.to/AaronCol.

Aaron was graduated from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs(Economics).  His academic work included a study of U.S. domestic energy supplies.  His Geology professor was famed academician Kenneth Deffeyes, author of “Hubbert’s Peak.”

He received his graduate degree (Masters in Public Administration) from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  His focus was on Campaign Finance Regulation and Ethics in Business, Government, and Politics.  Aaron’s bio can be viewed at www.bit.ly/BioAaron.

In addition to his extensive experience as the Host of “The Energy Roundtable,” making Aaron particularly well-qualified to moderate the shows are the facts he has performed efficiency and regulatory studies for the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  Examples of his work as a preeminent moderator can be seen at www.bit.ly/FracTV as well as www.bit.ly/EnergyShows.

Aaron conducted statewide public opinion polling for Public Service Company of Colorado (now Xcel Energy) and also directed a statewide survey research effort studying public opinions regarding nuclear issues.  He was a U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission-certified Investment Advisor, has been in business +35 years, and is an energy royalty owner.

His academic work with Princeton University Professors Kenneth Deffeyes (author of “Hubbert’s Peak”) and Harold Feiveson involved projections of long-term energy supplies and environment issues.

The talk industry’s leading publication — “TALKERS MAGAZINE” — selected Aaron out of more than 5,000 hosts as one of America’s “100 Most Important Talk Show Hosts” in 1997 (along with others such as Don ImusG. Gordon LiddyRush LimbaughDr. Laura Schlesinger, and Howard Stern).

In 1998, Aaron moved from the Talk America Radio Network (where he was heard nationally on 51 radio stations) exclusively into television.  For more information, visit www.HarberTV.com or e-mail [email protected].   Thank you!

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proprietary products, tradenames, and/or properties of USA Talk Network, Inc. and/or Aaron Harber:  All rights reserved..