10/06/2026

USAEE Webinar: Lessons from Two Centuries of Energy Research | Tuesday, October 27

2:00 p.m. EDT

REGISTER

Join the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) on Tuesday, October 27 at 2:00 p.m. EDT for the next USAEE webinar, "Lessons from Two Centuries of Energy Research." It is often said that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Certainly, there are many lessons to be learned from the history of energy economics and policy-making and panelists Guy F. Caruso (Center for Strategic and International Studies), James L. Sweeney (Stanford University) and Troy Thompson (Texas A&M University) — along with moderator Michael C. Lynch (Energy Policy Research Foundation) — are well suited to address the questions of the day in the context of history. These distinguished USAEE members, each with a half-century of experience, will describe their careers and experiences, and the relevance to today’s energy challenges.

Registration is required; there is no fee to attend this webinar. This webinar is presented in collaboration with the LSU Energy Institute. 

Panelists

Guy F. Caruso
Senior Advisor | CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program

Guy F. Caruso is currently a senior adviser in the CSIS Energy and National Security Program, having served as executive director of the CSIS Strategic Energy Initiative from 1998 to 2000. Prior to rejoining CSIS, he had served since February 2002 as administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that provides independent data, forecasts, and analyses regarding energy. Mr. Caruso has over 30 years of energy experience, with particular emphasis on topics relating to energy markets, policy, and security. He first joined DOE as a senior energy economist in the Office of International Affairs and soon became director of the Office of Market Analysis. Other leadership roles at DOE included director of the Office of Oil and Natural Gas Policy in the Office of Domestic and International Energy Policy and director of the Office of Energy Emergency Policy Evaluation. Prior to joining DOE, Mr. Caruso worked at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as an international energy economist in the Office of Economic Research. In addition, before joining EIA, Mr. Caruso was also director of the National Energy Strategy (NES) project for the U.S. Energy Association (USEA). During this time, he spearheaded the USEA publication "Toward a National Energy Strategy," which was released in February 2001 and a follow-up study entitled, "National Energy Strategy Post 9/11." Mr. Caruso has also worked at the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), first as the head of the Oil Industry Division, where he was responsible for analyzing world oil supply/demand and developments in the oil industry, and later as director of the Office of Non-member Countries, where he directed studies of energy-related developments

James L. Sweeney
Professor of Management Science and Engineering, Emeritus | Stanford University

James (Jim) Sweeney, Stanford University, is professor of management science and engineering, emeritus. Professional activities focus on economic policy and analysis for energy and the environment, especially energy efficiency. He is senior fellow of USAEE, Precourt Institute for Energy, and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Sweeney was founding chair of the California Energy Commission’s Petroleum Market Advisory Committee and founding director of the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center. 

Sweeney was editor (with Alan Kneese) of the three volume Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics, author of The California Electricity Crisis – an analytical history of California’s electricity restructuring and subsequent crisis – and of Energy Efficiency: Building a Clean, Secure Economy. Jim earned an MIT bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a Stanford PhD in engineering-economic systems

Troy Thompson
Assistant Professor of Practice; Interim Director, Dianne and M. Edward Rister '74 Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program | Texas A&M University

Troy Thompson is an Assistant Professor of Practice and Interim Director of the Dianne and M. Edward Rister '74 Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. During his business career, he was a member of the Global Procurement/Supply Chain Leadership team at Chevron and a manager at Deloitte and Halliburton.  His past roles focused on analytics, economic analysis and strategic planning.  Mr. Thompson received an undergraduate degree in Agriculture/Agri-Business from Sam Houston State University and master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University.  He is a Past President of the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) and a USAEE Senior Fellow.

Moderator

Michael C. Lynch
Distinguished Fellow | Energy Policy Research Foundation
President | Strategic Energy & Economic Research

Michael Lynch is a Distinguished Fellow with the Energy Policy Research Foundation in Washington, D.C.  and president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. He has worked on energy economics and policy for over forty years, much of it at M.I.T., is published in seven languages, and is the author of 2016’s The Peak Oil Scare and the Coming Oil Flood.  He serves on the editorial board of several publications and is a senior contributor for Forbes.

His work has primarily focused on the microeconomics of the oil market during normal and disrupted periods and has frequently been called a ‘heretic’ for disputing the consensus of ever-rising oil prices. His publications on forecasting petroleum prices and supply have highlighted errors in the commonly held expectations, including those of the U.S. Department of Energy and the International Energy Agency. His work has appeared in six languages and tends to be quantitative, while blending political science and economics.