With its 15-by-15 program and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, New York State has set some ambitious carbonreduction goals. But what concrete steps should be taken now to meet those goals? What is the best way to produce more clean energy? And what role - if any - should the state government be playing?

Those questions and many more were tackled recently during a three-part forum series on New York's energy future. Organized by the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, our "Powering the Future" series brought together experts and decisionmakers representing every facet of New York's energy sector, including government, utilities, regulators, financial experts, lawyers, developers and environmental organizations.

More than 500 people attended the three sessions on solar, wind and nuclear energy, which were generously sponsored by AIG and conducted in partnership with New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and its Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems.

NYLCVEF will now start the process of synthesizing the experts' insights into a comprehensive set of recommendations that will be presented to the New York State Energy Planning Board. The board, which is chaired by one of our panelists, Deputy Secretary for Energy Paul DeCotis, is forecasting the state's energy needs and developing a plan to meet the expected higher demand. NYLCVEF's goal is to ensure the role of clean energy in the plan and ensure that environmentally sound policies are put into effect.

- Liana Grey