Conversations with esteemed environmental economist Sir Andrew Steer and clean energy industry leader Jason Grumet bookend Newsweek’s daylong event “Powering Ahead” on Thursday, September 25, during Climate Week NYC.
Steer’s storied career includes leading the World Resources Institute, serving as special envoy for climate at the World Bank and founding president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. He currently holds professor positions at both the London School of Economics and Georgetown University. Steer is a professor in practice at the Global School of Sustainability at LSE and a distinguished research professor in Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and the Earth Commons.
Steer’s remarks will close the event and add context to the day’s discussions about the clean energy transition and innovations for a circular economy.
The event begins in conversation with Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, a leading trade association representing the clean energy industry. Grumet previously founded the Bipartisan Policy Center and led the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy. Throughout his career, Grumet has worked to build a broad coalition around climate, national security and economic goals.
Powering Ahead will feature business leaders grappling with some of the biggest environmental and economic challenges of our time: the surging demand for energy, EVs revolutionizing the auto sector, and more sustainable options to cut plastic waste.
Fortunately, solutions abound as companies and communities step up to power the future with cleaner sources.
We’ll hear how to make our power systems more affordable, reliable and clean, innovate in the auto sector, cut plastic waste and conserve natural assets.
Our panelists include representatives from AES, Amazon, Bloom Energy, Constellation Energy, Duke Energy, Hitachi Energy, Octopus Energy, PG&E, Rivian, Schneider Electric, sonnen, XL Batteries and many more.
We hope you can join us for a day of stimulating conversation and networking on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at Newsweek’s headquarters in 1 World Trade Center in New York. Use this link to register.
Our panelists will share the latest on some of the most promising developments in clean energy, such as the rapid growth of renewable sources and battery energy storage on the electric grid and the role of virtual power plants to help meet peaks of energy demand.
We’ll also learn about the new energy sources needed to power the extraordinary growth of AI, as large new data centers require gigawatts of electricity to train and operate new AI models. AI will likely demand a mix of more power from the grid, on-site power generation and energy storage, and smarter systems to manage the energy requirements at data centers.
The electrification of cars and trucks also adds to electricity demand as EVs gain traction with consumers and offer an important climate solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. U.S. automakers face a shifting policy landscape as they attempt to retool and invest for EV manufacturing and the production of batteries. Our panel will include insights from auto executives on how they are meeting these challenges.
The production of plastics, which are primarily made from petroleum, has become a major source of climate pollution with the world’s plastics industry now responsible for an estimated 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions—more than the aviation sector. A panel discussion will focus on innovations in plastics policy and technology that could help cut CO2 emissions and reduce the plastic waste clogging our rivers and seas.