NRDC Welcomes Back Seasoned State Environmental Leader

New York, NY (February 1, 2010) -- NRDC today announced a new addition to its global warming and clean energy leadership team: Katherine Kennedy. Formerly the top environmental litigator for the State of New York, Kennedy has rejoined NRDC as Counsel to the Air and Energy Program and will lead NRDC’s legal and regulatory efforts on climate change and clean energy at the national level.

“We’re delighted that Kit Kennedy is returning to NRDC at this critical junction,” said Frances Beinecke, NRDC’s President. “Her experience in government, combined with her passion as an environmental advocate, will make her a valuable addition to NRDC’s leadership team.”

Kennedy has served for the last three years as Special Deputy Attorney General for Environmental Protection for New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and directed the work of the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau. Prior to 2007, Kennedy directed NRDC’s Northeast Energy Program.

“Protecting the environment has been a key priority for my office,” said Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. “Working throughout New York State and at the national level, Kit provided great leadership on a wide range of environmental and public health issues, from requiring energy companies to disclose global warming impacts to protecting drinking water for millions of New Yorkers. I wish her all the best as she returns to NRDC.”

“I’m proud to have served the people of the State of New York and to have worked to protect New York’s environment and public health,” said Kennedy. “Under the leadership of Attorney General Cuomo, New York has a great record of environmental accomplishments, from fighting global warming, to cleaning up contaminated communities to protecting our drinking water and much more. Now, with the struggle against global warming hanging in the balance, I’m pleased to be returning to focus on national climate change and clean energy issues.”

Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard University. She was a law clerk for the Honorable Morris M. Lasker in the Southern District of New York. She first joined NRDC in 1988, and has worked on a wide range of environmental issues, ranging from water pollution and land use planning to environmental justice, global warming and clean energy. She is co-director of the Yale Environmental Protection Law Clinic and has also taught as an adjunct professor at the Fordham University School of Law.