2023 Terry J. Stevinson Fellowship Addressing Energy in Colorado

The Terry J. Stevinson Fellowship is designed to spur thoughtful policy discussions and potential solutions regarding the many policy and economic challenges brought about by population growth in Colorado. Through a multi-year effort, CSI will work with different fellows on an annual basis to dive into one particular area concerning growth.

About the 2023 Fellowship

2023 Topic: Energy in Colorado 

While the 2023 fellows will be tasked with creating their own scope and research agenda, the broad areas the fellowship will cover are:

• Innovative solutions for pursuing a broader energy policy strategy for Colorado, including: biofuel, biomass, coal, geothermal, hydropower, magnetism, natural gas, nuclear, oil or petroleum, solar, tidal, wave, and wind, all with respect to the industry and the environment they serve.
• Opportunities, impacts, and tradeoffs of increasing transformative new energy technologies within Colorado.
• Envisioning the energy and policy landscape for Colorado for the coming decades.
• Examining the role of utilities in markets amid new disruptive technologies and increasing consumer control over their energy consumption.
• Impacts and Responses to HB-1261 Climate Action Plan To Reduce Pollution and the resulting Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap

2023 Terry J. Stevinson Fellows

“It’s an honor to be chosen by the Common Sense Institute as the latest Terry  J. Stevinson fellow to examine energy policy in Colorado and to identify solutions, thank you Terry for your confidence and support. CSI is well known throughout the West as a leader in identifying critical issues facing everyday people and developing practical solutions that policy makers eagerly adopt on a bipartisan basis. I’m equally thrilled that my partner in the Fellowship is Tisha Schuller, founder and CEO of Adamantine Energy. She is an insightful and thoughtful energy expert without equal and I look forward to collaborating with her to develop solutions that perhaps neither of us would conceive on our own.” – Doug Benevento

“It’s an honor to be selected as a fellow for this important work. Colorado is uniquely positioned to meet the challenges inherent in evolving today’s energy system to meet the environmental and economic needs of tomorrow.  I anticipate that Colorado can serve as a role model across the country and around the world. We will need to harness our proud 150-year history of resource development, technological innovation, environmental stewardship, and academic excellence to build new policy paradigms that transcend today’s limiting political rhetoric.”

To learn more about Doug Benevento and Tisha Schuller, and the rest of the CSI team, click here.

2022 Terry J. Stevinson Fellows

“When the Common Sense Institute approached us regarding a study on the future of water resources and its effect on the future of business and the economy,  Eric and I jumped at the chance to educate a new audience regarding the challenges regarding competition for water in the future. The wonderful thing about discussing water is that big “P” politics does not usually interfere with finding solutions to the challenging issues in water.  Although we came from different perspectives, we knew collaboration and finding regional solutions are important to sustain water supplies for solid economic future.  Working with Terry J. Stephenson and the CSI team helped us to think about the issues in business and economic context.  CSI provided us resource support that was invaluable to our report.  They put together a thoughtful and experienced advisory team to brainstorm possible solutions.  Thank you for trusting us to write this report.” – Jennifer Gimbel and Eric Kuhn

To learn more about Eric Kuhn and Jennifer Gimbel, and the rest of the CSI team, click here.

2021 Terry J. Stevinson Fellows

“When we started this journey together, Peter and I were not quite sure what the outcomes would be. We knew that we wanted to create something that was unique, different from the dozens of policy papers on housing, and impactful, that provides meaningful steps to move forward and find solutions. The Terry J. Stevinson fellowship allowed us to be free to explore ideas and pursue methodologies however we deemed appropriate. Terry J. Stevinson, Kristin, and the CSI team, allowed us to take the lead without any preconceived ideas of where we would, or should, end up. And they let us develop our voice and supported us along the way. For all of that, we are truly appreciative. In this hyper divided political climate, the opportunity you gave us allowed us to think collaboratively in ways we forgot we needed. But it’s apparent to us that more honest and open dialogue is what we all require for us to get beyond our problems and come to solutions for the good of our state and country. This fellowship is perfect for that. As a result of this partnership, we made some tangible and executable recommendations that we emphatically believe could change the current trajectory in the state. These ideas are the product of the collaboration and research we did and we don’t think would not have occurred without this opportunity.” – Peter LiFari and Evelyn Lim

To learn more about Peter and Evelyn, and the rest of the CSI team, click here.

The full 2021 report titled From Conflict to Compassion: A Colorado Housing Development Blueprint For Transformational Change has made quite the splash in the news. Building from Peter and Evelyn’s guiding principles, stakeholder conversations, and collaborative research, the report offers a sequence of reforms that can disrupt the broken system holding back housing supply. These solutions are distilled into ideas that work as told by Peter and Evelyn’s stakeholders, force multipliers that could bring about a change to the development landscape, and a Colorado Housing Development Blueprint that could lead to transformational change. You can find the full 2021 report by clicking here.

2020 Terry J. Stevinson Fellows

“Thanks to the Terry Stevinson Fellowship, I not only received the opportunity to lay out my thoughts and ideas on this important issue, the decision to have two fellows prepare this report meant that I had the world’s best co-author, Henry Sobanet. Making this experience even better was the incredible support we received from the Institute’s staff which turned our drafts into a readable document. I consider this fellowship the highlight of my career as a transportation professional.” – Ben Stein, 2020 Terry J. Stevinson Fellow

“There are several reasons to celebrate and acknowledge the Terry J. Stevinson Fellowship on transportation. But foremost among them, it represents exactly what philanthropic and civic engagement are meant to embody. Through this Fellowship, Ben Stein and I were able to bring hard facts and years of direct experience to a discussion that in Colorado has for too long been the victim of political inertia and damaging rhetoric. In a time when speaking up about taxes or fees means risking the wrath of social media or even one’s political career, Mr. Stevinson and the Board of the Common Sense Institute gave Ben and me a blank canvas and full editorial control of our paper – consequences or popularity contests be damned. It is this courage and leadership that to me are exemplary and it was an honor to be a part of it.” – Henry Sobanet, 2020 Terry J. Stevinson Fellow

To learn more about Ben and Henry, and the rest of the CSI team, click here.

The full 2020 report titled A Path Forward: A Common Sense Strategy for the Continued Viability of Colorado’s Transportation Network has been widely cited and acclaimed. It laid out five ways to raise between $300 million and $533 million per year. The state would need to maintain its current level of quality or, on the upper end of the spectrum, to knock out the $3.2 billion in unfunded projects identified in CDOT’s 10-year plan. You can find the full 2020 report by clicking here.