Vail Global Energy Forum to feature former Sen. Wirth, former SOS Shultz, top energy experts

The Vail Valley Foundation, in conjunction with Stanford University's Precourt Institute for Energy (PIE) and Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, (PEEC) will host the inaugural Vail Global Energy Forum, March 3-4, 2012, at the Vilar Performing Arts Center. Tickets for the event go on sale starting today.

The Vail Global Energy Forum will bring together some of the world's foremost leaders in their fields to discuss how best to provide the energy the world needs to support a productive global economy while also limiting adverse effects on the environment. Participants and speakers will include distinguished government officials, corporate executives, research scientists, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors and world-renowned journalists.

“Satisfying the worldwide demand for efficient and clean energy presents one of the greatest challenges of the century," said Standford University President John L. Hennessy. "It also represents a global opportunity. The breakthrough research being done within the Precourt Institute of Energy at Stanford is addressing this challenge to find working solutions through technologies that are sustainable and affordable.”

Confirmed participants include George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of Labor and now Distinguished Fellow of Stanford's Hoover Institution; Timothy E. Wirth, former U.S. Senator from Colorado and now President of the United Nations Foundation; Alan Murray, Deputy Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal, who will moderate a press conference; Dr. Ernest Moniz, Director, Energy Initiative, MIT; Dr. Franklin M. Orr, Director, Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford and Dr. James Sweeney, Director, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, also at Stanford. Additional speakers and panelists will be announced shortly.

“Beaver Creek is an ideal setting for the Vail Global Energy Forum,” said Harry Frampton, Chairman of the Vail Valley Foundation's board of directors, “as Colorado is both an energy-producing state and acutely environmentally aware state. Colorado is also home to some of the fastest growing new energy business ‘incubators,' devoted to the development of clean energy solutions; and Vail Resorts is a recreational leader in utilizing and promoting green technologies.”

The Vail Global Energy Forum is organized by the Vail Valley Foundation in collaboration with Dr. Franklin L. Orr, Dr. James Sweeney and Carl Colby.

The event will be open to the public, with ticket sales getting under way today. Tickets are $100 for general admission and $175 for a "Signature Package," which includes reserved seating, a backstage VIP reception and a light brunch.

Vail Global Energy Forum tickets will be available online at vilarpac.org, by phone at (888) 920-ARTS(2787) or in person at the Vilar Center box office in Beaver Creek and the Marketplace box office in Vail Village. Tickets are available online 24 hours a day; the box office is open Monday through Friday from 11am-5pm MST, with additional hours on performance days.

For additional information on the inaugural Vail Global Energy Forum, contact the Vilar Performing Arts Center at (970) 845-TIXS (8497) or visit www.vilarpac.org. The Vilar Performing Arts Center is a project of the Vail Valley Foundation. For more information on the Foundation, visit www.vvf.org.