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Amid the debate on greenhouse gases and the Kyoto Protocol, divisions between American and European energy policies have widened, making it difficult for policymakers and shapers on both continents to find common ground through all of the rhetorical noise. On April 4, the German Marshall Fund, together with the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP), hosted a conference on “Understanding U.S. and EU Clean Energy Technology Approaches and Goals.”  The conference encouraged open dialogue between government, academic, industry, and NGO representatives on energy policies and their implications for the environment, the global economy, and international security — concerns increasingly important to the transatlantic community. Over the past few years, both the United States and Europe have begun to reexamine and shift their priorities for energy research, development, demonstration, and technology deployment.  The European Union recently adopted a limit on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in major industries, and all EU member states have ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.  In the United States, meanwhile, the debate on mandatory carbon constraints continues: a number of individual states have undertaken programs to reduce GHG emissions, while the Senate rejected national legislation to cap such emissions in 2003.  The Bush administration wants incentive-laden voluntary programs to achieve emission reduction and to develop clean energy technology. The one-day event centered on questions of how supply, environmental progress, and industrial competitiveness have shaped policy decisions on both sides of the Atlantic.  Participants engaged in a candid and in-depth exchange on the EU Emissions Trading System, with European officials and industry leaders offering their first-hand experiences of the program’s design and consequences.  The group also explored options for clean energy development in the United States and reviewed comprehensive policy recommendations released by NCEP in December 2004.  Finally, participants sought a better understanding of the concerns and ambitions of big multinational corporations, with special emphasis on the contradictory standards and regulations that often increase compliance costs.