China has long had a reputation for being an extremely energy inefficient country. However, the United States holds certain mistaken views on China’s energy and environmental policies, says Mark Levine in this audio lecture hosted by the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
While China is plagued by severe pollution, it is, in fact, trying to get a grip on its energy challenges in ways that would surprise the average American. Levine discusses China’s progressive efforts to establish and enforce new energy policies and emissions standards with a group of MBA students about to leave for a service learning trip to China. He clarifies issues such as the country’s approach to pricing; subsidizing of energy industries, such as electricity; and energy-intensive industries, such as steel production. Levine's talk is sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation.
Mark Levine is the group leader of the China Energy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. From 1996-2006 he was director of the environmental division, and from 1983-96 he led the lab's energy analysis program. Levine is a board member of five leading nonprofits in the United States (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Center for Clean Air Policy, Center for Resource Solutions, the U.S.-China Green Energy Council, and California Clean Energy Fund, an innovative green venture capital fund), and one in Asia. He has founded or cofounded two successful nonprofits, including the acclaimed Beijing Energy Efficiency Center. He is a member of the energy advisory board of Dow Chemical Company, and the advisory board of the Asian Pacific Energy Research Centre in Tokyo. In 1999, he was elected a fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology. In 2008, he was awarded the prestigious Obayashi Prize, granted by the Obayashi Foundation of Japan to one person every two years for contributions to sustainable development, especially in urban areas.
Levine graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, earned a PhD from the University of California, and has been the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and National Institutes of Health doctoral awards.
This free podcast is from our Stanford Discussions series.
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