Transition Recommendations for Climate Governance and Action
The Climate 21 Project tapped the expertise of more than 150 experts with high-level government experience, including nine former cabinet appointees, to deliver actionable advice for a rapid-start, whole-of-government climate response coordinated by the White House and accountable to the President.
The Climate 21 Project’s recommendations are organized across the following 11 White House offices, federal departments, and federal agencies:
Executive Office of the President/Council on Environmental Quality
Office of Management and Budget
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of the Interior
Department of Energy
Department of Agriculture
Department of Transportation
Department of State
Department of Justice
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
Department of the Treasury
The remainder of this summary report provides high-level recommendations for each department and agency, as well as for cross-cutting hiring tools and priorities. The complete Climate 21 Project memo for each department and agency addresses the following topics in more depth:
Budget, management, and structure
Key program opportunities
Interagency priorities and relationships
Critical staff appointments and hiring tools
Steering Committee
Christy Goldfuss (Co-Chair)
Center for American Progress
former Managing Director at CEQ
Tim Profeta (Co-Chair)
Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
Joseph Aldy
Harvard Kennedy School
former Special Assistant to President Obama
Vicki Arroyo
Georgetown Climate Center
former Special Assistant, EPA
Robert Bonnie
Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
former Undersecretary at USDA
Michael Boots
former Acting Chair at CEQ
Jason Bordoff
Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia
former Special Assistant to President Obama
Megan Ceronsky
Center for Applied Environmental Law and Policy
former Special Assistant to President Obama
Rick Duke
Gigaton Strategies
former Special Assistant to President Obama
Joseph Goffman
Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program
former Associate Assistant Administrator/Senior Counsel at EPA
Jason Grumet
Bipartisan Policy Center
Nat Keohane
Environmental Defense Fund
former Special Assistant to President Obama
Kate Konschnik
Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
Brenda Mallory
Southern Environmental Law Center
former General Counsel at CEQ
Andrew Mayock
former Deputy Director at OMB
Jeremy Symons (Project Manager)
Symons Public Affairs
former Climate Policy Advisor at EPA
former Deputy Staff Director at Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
Dan Utech
Yale School of the Environment
former Deputy Assistant to President Obama
Steering Committee members participated as individuals lending their personal expertise. Their professional affiliations do not imply organizational endorsement of these recommendations. Steering Committee members do not necessarily endorse every individual recommendation of the Climate 21 Project.