Veteran Climate Policy Leader, Daniel Lashof, to join NextGen Climate America, Inc. as Chief Operating Officer
SAN FRANCISCO (March 25th, 2014) – NextGen Climate Action and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) today announced the selection of Daniel Lashof as Chief Operating Officer of NextGen Climate America, Inc., a tax exempt 501c(3) organization focused on climate change and affiliated with NextGen Climate Action, a social welfare organization.
For the last 25 years, Lashof has led NRDC’s efforts to combat climate change and develop strategies to rein in dangerous carbon pollution. He is the key architect of NRDC’s groundbreaking plan to use existing authority under the Clean Air Act to dramatically reduce carbon pollution from power plants at a low cost. In his new role with NextGen Climate America, Lashof will continue to advise NRDC on climate policy as a Senior Fellow. Lashof will assume his new positions on April 1st. NRDC has appointed David Doniger, the organization’s longtime climate policy director, as the new head of its climate program.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge confronting our generation, and I am pleased to welcome Dan as a key part of our efforts to educate Americans about the very real impacts of this critical issue,” said NextGen Climate Action Founder and President Tom Steyer. “Dan is a long-standing expert on climate change, and I am confident that his expertise and policy leadership will be invaluable to advancing the mission of NextGen Climate America, Inc.”
“Dan has provided incredible leadership on climate for over two decades, spearheading NRDC’s national blueprint for cutting carbon pollution and advancing clean energy solutions,” said Frances Beinecke, president of NRDC. “We are thrilled that in Dan’s new positions, he will continue to build strong public support for protecting the climate, our economy and our future.”
“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to join an organization that is committed to fighting for the climate protections we so desperately need to protect the planet we will pass on to our children and future generations,” said Dan Lashof, COO of NextGen Climate America, Inc. “I’m also thrilled to assume the role of Senior Fellow at NRDC, my home for the last 25 years. Working with both NRDC and NextGen Climate America, Inc. is a terrific way to leverage the capabilities of both organizations to achieve a clean energy future.”
Lashof brings a wealth of climate science and policy expertise to NextGen Climate America. He has directed NRDC’s climate program since 2008, and during his tenure, the organization has dedicated over $200 million toward battling climate change. NRDC’s top-ranked climate program now includes over fifty climate and energy experts all tackling the institution’s highest priority.
He is widely acclaimed as an expert in his field, having authored numerous articles and reports—and testified before Congress—on climate change science and policy. Lashof has followed international climate negotiations since their inception and is a lead author of the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the role of land-use change and forestry in exacerbating or mitigating global warming.
In fall 2011, he was appointed a Distinguished Bass Scholar at the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and Lecturer at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Harvard University and a doctorate in Energy and Resources from the University of California at Berkeley.