Energy Expert Robert A. Hefner III to Offer
Groundbreaking Solutions to the Nation's
Energy and Climate Crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cristal Logan
Community Outreach Director
The Aspen Institute
Tel. 970-544-7929

Aspen, CO, August 13, 2009 – The Aspen Institute will feature noted energy industry leader Robert A. Hefner III in conversation with Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. Mr. Hefner will discuss his new book The Grand Energy Transition, a groundbreaking book on how to understand the past, present and future of energy use within the development of civilization. The event will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 PM on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at the Hefner Lounge in the Aspen Meadows Reception Center on the Institute’s Aspen Meadows campus in Aspen, CO. The event is free and open to the public. Copies of Mr. Hefner’s book will be available for purchase at the event. Those who would like to attend are encouraged to RSVP by phone at 970/925-7010.

Hefner’s recent book, The Grand Energy Transition, shows how the world is moving from unsustainable, solid and liquid energy sources of our past to a clean, sustainable energy future. Hefner explains we are on the verge of an evolutionary leap toward gas-based energy sources such as natural gas, solar wind and hydrogen – and that government policies must accelerate this natural transition. The GET forecasts the continuing decline of coal and oil and an energy future called The Age of Energy Gases, with America’s abundant natural gas as the bridge to a millennia long epoch of clean, sustainable, gaseous forms of energy including wind, solar and hydrogen.

Robert A. Hefner III is Founder and Owner of GHK Exploration, a private natural gas company headquartered in Oklahoma City. Mr. Hefner is also a member of the International Council at the Belfer Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and a member of Singapore’s International Advisory Panel on Energy. At a time when no one believed it was possible, he pioneered ultradeep natural gas exploration and production that led to the development of technology needed to produce many of the world’s deepest and highest pressure natural gas wells. In the 1970s, Hefner was a leader in the industry’s successful efforts to deregulate natural gas prices. These technological and political accomplishments led to the development of vast new domestic natural gas resources.

For over two decades, Hefner has actively pursued his interest in China in the areas of energy, foreign affairs and contemporary Chinese art, developing the internationally known Hefner Collection of Contemporary Chinese Art (www.hefnercollection.com). He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London, a Fellow National in the Explorers Club, and a Director of the American Clean Skies Foundation. He is an Advisory Director of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Hefner and his wife MeiLi initiated the Hefner China Fund, supporting scholars at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Hefner received his B.S. degree in geology from the University of Oklahoma.

Event details subject to change. Please RSVP to 970/925-7010.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners.