The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
This presentation will focus on the urgent need to update the nation’s energy and environmental policies, to account for significant changes in the economy, environment, technology, and society. For far too long, Congress has abdicated its responsibility to legislate meaningfully in these areas, allowing regulatory agencies to fill the void. In the absence of congressional intervention, and checked by the judiciary, regulatory agencies are mired in legal and political uncertainty, while the public and regulated community demand solutions.
Throughout his career, Michael Catanzaro has served in several senior energy and environmental policy positions in the federal government, including the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, the EPA, and the White House.
Before joining CGCN, Catanzaro served as Special Assistant to President Trump for Domestic Energy and Environmental Policy at the White House National Economic Council. In that role, he helped craft energy and environmental policy at multiple agencies and advised the president on the administration’s major policy decisions in that space. He previously served on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and on the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign as a top adviser on energy and environmental policy. He was Associate Director for Policy in the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Associate Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under former President George W. Bush. He also served as a senior adviser to then-Speaker John Boehner on energy and environmental policy.
Now in the private sector, Catanzaro is a partner at CGCN Group, a policy consulting and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C.
Catanzaro received his B.A. from Fordham University in political science and philosophy, and an M.A. in Government from John Hopkins University.
Source: CGCN Group