Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Department/Agency: Department of Energy

Position:

Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Executive Schedule: Executive Level IV - Presidential Appointment with Senate Confirmation

Major Responsibilities:

Promote efficient, clean, and renewable energy sources
Run the ENERGY STAR program that rates appliances on efficiency
Manages a weatherization program that helps needy Americans lower their heating and cooling bills
Form public-private partnerships on energy efficiency
Facilitate bringing bring new technologies to market

Key Competencies and Preferred Qualifications:

Understanding of energy markets
Expertise on innovative energy technologies
Experience in forging collaborations with private sector

Insight:

The assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy in the Department of Energy faces the large task of helping President-elect Barack Obama deliver on a promise that was central to his campaign: ending American dependence on foreign oil by focusing on renewable energy sources that in the bargain can help create thousands of new, "green" jobs. During the 2008 presidential campaign, both Obama and his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, vowed to increase the emphasis on renewable, clean energy. That is a goal the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has been pursuing for years, trying to wean the country from dependence on fossil fuels and find cleaner ways to satisfy its energy needs.

EERE leads the Federal government's R&D efforts on energy efficiency and manages what it calls "the Department of Energy's (DOE) diverse energy efficiency and renewable energy applied science portfolio. Our mission is to develop and deploy renewable energy sources and conversion technologies, as well as identify efficiency best practices, regulations and technologies that collectively strengthens our economy, protects the environment and increases national security."

That portfolio includes solar energy, wind energy, geothermal, biofuels and hydrogen technology, as well as the more mundane task of "weatherization" to keep homes, plants and offices cooler in summer and warmer in winter. It runs the ENERGY STAR program that tells consumer how much energy their new washer, dryer, refrigerator and other household appliances will consume.

It also runs the DOE Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which has helped millions of needy American families lower their heating bills. Over the past three decades, nearly 6 million families have had their homes weatherized with help from DOE; on average weatherization cuts their heating bills by a third. Millions more low- and moderate-income Americans - especially the elderly, those with disabilities, and families with children - are eligible for help with weatherization; the services are provided through local housing and community action agencies. WAP - the nation's largest residential energy efficiency program -- operates separately from but in concert with the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program of the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a $4.5 billion block grant program started after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' oil embargo in 1973 that provides assistance to needy families to help heat their homes during cold winters and, in some places, to cool them down during scorching summers.

The federal weatherization program was on track to help weatherize 140,000 homes in 2008, and President-elect Barack Obama has said he aims to boost that number to 1 million a year, creating thousands of "green" the process. A program that large could create 78,000 jobs, Gil Sperling, the manager of EERE's weatherization program, recently estimated.

Amid soaring energy prices, Congress boosted EERE's budget from $1.5 billion in fiscal 2007 to more than $1.7 billion for fiscal 2008; the Bush administration sought to scale the budget back under $1.3 billion for fiscal 2009. EERE's budget and fortunes are likely to grow robustly growing in the new Obama administration. While the United States is nowhere near as energy efficient as leaders would like it to be - less than 7 percent of U.S. energy came from renewable sources in 2006 - it has been making headway, with use of renewable energy up 50 percent since the start of the decade. The U.S. leads the world in producing biofuels - more than 6 billion gallons annually, according to EERE figures. President George W. Bush and Congress in 2007 undertook to reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent within a decade, and that goal could be made even more ambitious under an Obama administration. This so-called "20 in 10 plan" was laid out in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which raised the fuel economy standards for automobiles for the first time since 1975 and mandated greater energy efficiency in lighting, appliances, and federal energy use.

Then-Assistant Secretary Alexander "Andy" Karsner, in an Op-Ed for Forbes magazine in March 2008, stressed the importance of injecting clean technology into the transportation sector, which accounts for two-thirds of all oil consumed in the United States. "`Greening' our homes and businesses by constructing state-of-the-art buildings that produce as much energy as they use is fundamental to protecting our environment. But our transportation sector must not be overlooked," said Karsner, a former business executive who worked on deals to build wind farms around the world. Karsner, once profiled in BusinessWeek as "The Point Man for Bush's Green Push," repeatedly emphasized the importance of public-private collaborations. "The problems we have to address as Americans are problems the government cannot possibly face alone. We need industry, entrepreneurs and innovators," said Karsner. EERE, in its official 2009 budget presentation to Congress, made the same point, stating that, "Our efforts today and onward need to be about developing and implementing solutions that leverage and stimulate the rapid and large-scale private actions and investment necessary to meet our nation's needs."

While oil prices spiked upwards in mid-2008, a former Bush administration assistant secretary and under secretary of energy, David Garman, told the U.S. Fuel Cell Council "that most of America's leaders lack the ability or the will to talk about the true nature of our problems-problems that are really more serious than higher prices at the pump." He said that "the political tendency is to blame `big oil' or `the polluting utilities'" for pollution that causes climate change, but the real culprit is "that there are simply more of us, and many of us make choices that increase our carbon footprint... bigger houses, more powerful cars, far flung vacations, exotic foods brought to our supermarket from around the globe." But Garman said the speed with which Congress passed the Energy Security and Independence Act, only two years after an earlier energy bill become law, may mean that politicians finally are serious about tackling the energy and climate challenges.

Key Relationships – Within the Government:

Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy|
Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS)
Director, Office of Community Services, ACF, HHS
Director, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, ACF, HHS
Under Secretary, Economic Affairs, U.S. Department of Commerce
Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce
Associate Director, Natural Resources, Energy and Science, Office of Management and Budget
Under Secretary, Economic and Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Key Relationships – Outside the Government:

United States Energy Association
American Petroleum Institute
National Association of State Energy Officials
National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP)
Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission
Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
American Solar Energy Society
American Wind Energy Association
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Energy & Environmental Building Association
Natural Resources Defense Council

Nomination Referred to:

Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Current Position Profile:
1. Catherine Radford "Cathy" Zoi (Confirmed: June 19, 2009). Former Group Executive Director, Bayard Group Pty Ltd., Landis + Gyr Holdings, Landis+Gyr; The founding CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection, established and chaired by former Vice President Al Gore.

Recent Position Profiles:

2. John Mizroch, J.D. (Acting September 2008- ). Former principal deputy assistant secretary. Former president and CEO of World Environment Center. One-time Commerce Department official and adviser to Joint Economic Committee.

3. Alexander Karsner, M.A. (2006-2008). Private sector energy entrepreneur. Former managing director of Enercorp LLC., an international developer of wind farms.

4. David Garman, M.S. (2001-2006). Former U.S. Senate staff member. Served on staff of the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Represented Senate leadership at negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

5. Dan Reicher, J.D. (1997-2001). Former senior attorney for Natural Resources Defense Council and special assistant to the secretary of energy in the Clinton administration. Co-founder and president of New Energy Capital Corp. Executive vice president of Northern Power Systems. Massachusetts assistant attorney general for environmental protection. Now director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google.

6. Christine A. Ervin (1993-1997). President & CEO, U.S. Green Building Council. Director of Oregon's Department of Energy and Missouri's budget policy office. Project director for the World Wildlife Fund/Conservation Foundation.