Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 56 minutes ago
World energy usage could rise by 50% by 2050, increasing reliance on both renewable and nonrenewable sources. At the same time, growing climate concerns have intensified calls to reduce fossil fuels and take a deeper look at renewables like wind, water, solar, and nuclear. Notably, the First Amendment has played a unique role in this debate. Climate activists face lawsuits for protesting pipelines and energy companies, while those companies defend their statements on the impact of fossil fuels as protected speech. Meanwhile, the future of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies remains uncertain. How should the international community balance energy needs with environmental protection? Can Free Speech help secure a prosperous future for us all?
Featured:
Keith Amey, an engineer, has had a career spanning British Rail and British Aerospace, designing locomotives, wind turbines, and high-efficiency lighting. He previously worked at Sellafield Limited, a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a public body sponsored by the United Kingdom government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Tina Fawcett serves as the acting energy program lead at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford. Her research concerns energy use by households and organizations. She uses a multi-disciplinary approach to understand current patterns of use, and to identify opportunities and policies for reducing energy use and carbon emissions.
David Jones is the former Conservative Member of Parliament for Clwyd West in North Wales. He served under former Prime Minister David Cameron's cabinet as secretary of state for Wales. As minister of state for exiting the European Union, he was intimately involved in British foreign policy during the Brexit period. He was also vice chair of the European Research Group, an influential force within the Conservative Party
Roger Pielke Jr., a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focuses on science and technology policy, the politicization of science, government science advice, and energy and climate. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder; a distinguished fellow at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan; a research associate of Risk Frontiers; and an honorary professor of University College London.
Michael Scott (moderator), senior dean, fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, college adviser for postgraduate students, and a member of the Las Casas Institute. He also serves as senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Scott previously was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and founding vice-chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.
Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of "All Things Considered" on NPR.
World energy usage could rise by 50% by 2050, increasing reliance on both renewable and nonrenewable sources. At the same time, growing climate concerns have intensified calls to reduce fossil fuels and take a deeper look at renewables like wind, water, solar, and nuclear. Notably, the First Amendment has played a unique role in this debate. Climate activists face lawsuits for protesting pipelines and energy companies, while those companies defend their statements on the impact of fossil fuels as protected speech. Meanwhile, the future of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies remains uncertain. How should the international community balance energy needs with environmental protection? Can Free Speech help secure a prosperous future for us all?
Featured:
Keith Amey, an engineer, has had a career spanning British Rail and British Aerospace, designing locomotives, wind turbines, and high-efficiency lighting. He previously worked at Sellafield Limited, a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a public body sponsored by the United Kingdom government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Tina Fawcett serves as the acting energy program lead at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford. Her research concerns energy use by households and organizations. She uses a multi-disciplinary approach to understand current patterns of use, and to identify opportunities and policies for reducing energy use and carbon emissions.
David Jones is the former Conservative Member of Parliament for Clwyd West in North Wales. He served under former Prime Minister David Cameron's cabinet as secretary of state for Wales. As minister of state for exiting the European Union, he was intimately involved in British foreign policy during the Brexit period. He was also vice chair of the European Research Group, an influential force within the Conservative Party
Roger Pielke Jr., a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focuses on science and technology policy, the politicization of science, government science advice, and energy and climate. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder; a distinguished fellow at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan; a research associate of Risk Frontiers; and an honorary professor of University College London.
Michael Scott (moderator), senior dean, fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, college adviser for postgraduate students, and a member of the Las Casas Institute. He also serves as senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Scott previously was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and founding vice-chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.
Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of "All Things Considered" on NPR.
