In a RAP webinar held on April 27th, 2017, we address the question of whether energy and environmental regulators can work together, in a more integrated and streamlined fashion, to achieve state energy and air quality goals. We think they can. Ken Colburn and Christopher James detail how energy and air quality planning can be retooled—in a process RAP has dubbed “E-Merge”—to achieve safe, reliable, affordable, and clean energy more cost-effectively. The speakers explore:

• The current urgency for integrating energy and environmental planning;
• Methods for overcoming current regulatory and economic inefficiencies;
• The steps in an E-Merge process;
• The legal foundation for such integration and streamlining under the Clean Air Act;
• Examples of similar initiatives;
• The roles of the Environmental Protection Agency and other stakeholders; and
• Next steps for interested states.