Our Staff

Jason S. Grumet

Executive Director

Jason Grumet was appointed Executive Director of the National Commission on Energy Policy in January 2002. In this capacity, Jason helped design the organization, recruit Commission members and open the Commission’s office in Washington D.C. In concert with Commission Co-Chairs, Jason oversees the organization’s strategic direction, technical analysis, policy development and advocacy. In December 2004, after more than two years of research and debate, the Commission released its long-term energy strategy, Ending the Energy Stalemate: A Bipartisan Strategy to Meet America’s Energy Challenges. Since the report’s release, the Commission has advocated its recommendations to Congress, the Administration, industry, the States, and other leading energy policymakers and stakeholders. Prior to joining the Commission, Jason served as Executive Director of Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM). He received a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Brown University and a J.D. from Harvard University. Jason lives with his wife Stephanie and daughters Isabella and Julia in Washington, D.C.

 

Paul W. Bledsoe

Director of Communications and Strategy

Paul Bledsoe joined the Commission in March 2002. From 1998 to 2000, he served as Communications Director of the White House Climate Change Task Force, overseeing communications efforts on a wide variety of energy and climate change issues for the Clinton Administration. From 1995 to 1998, Paul was Special Assistant to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, acting as the top communications advisor on science, water and climate issues. Prior to his work in the executive branch, Paul was Communications Director of the Senate Finance Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from 1993 to 1995, and earlier served as press secretary and legislative assistant to several members of the U.S. House of Representatives. After leaving the White House, Paul entered the private sector where his clients included the Energy Foundation and the Union of Concerned Scientists. In addition to his Commission duties, Paul is an Adjunct Teaching Fellow at the University of Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment. He received a B.A. from The Ohio State University, where he also received an M.A. in English. He lives with his wife, Celia Boddington, and their son, Jack, in Arlington, VA.

David W. Conover

Counsel

David Conover Esq. is the founding partner of Conover and Associates, a law firm specializing in alternative energy projects, climate change policy, and environment and infrastructure. Until April 4, 2006 Dave served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the Department of Energy. In this capacity, Mr. Conover represented the Administration in international energy and climate change negotiations and advised the Secretary of Energy on domestic policy issues, particularly related to energy security and climate change. Prior to this position, David was the Director of the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP). In carrying out the research coordination functions of the multi-agency CCTP, Mr. Conover served under auspices of the Cabinet-level Committee on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration (CCCSTI), established by the President on February 14, 2002, and led the development of a multi-agency climate change technology strategic plan, which was published in draft in August 2005. Previous to this assignment, David was Majority and Minority Staff Director & Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Earlier, Mr. Conover was with CH2M-Hill and had extensive experience in the environmental law and management fields. He holds a J.D. cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. with highest honors from the University of Virginia and is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Nate Gorence

Policy Analyst 

Nate Gorence joined the Commission in December, 2006. In the year prior to joining the Commission, Nate worked as a consultant for a software company in Madison, WI. After graduting with a B.A. in Geography from Dartmouth College in 2005, Nate became interested in energy issues while researching the potential for bioenergy in China with a team of professors at his alma mater.

Joe Kruger

Policy Director

Joe Kruger joined the Commission in December 2005. He previously served as a Visiting Scholar at Resources for the Future (RFF), where his work focused on the design, implementation, and evaluation of emissions trading programs. From 1986-2003, he held several staff and management positions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Most recently, he managed a branch within the Clean Air Markets Division that was responsible for technical and policy analysis of greenhouse gas trading and inventory issues. Prior to that position, he led a group responsible for the initial economic and environmental assessment of the landmark sulfur dioxide trading program. Joe holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and an A.B. in Government and Economics from Cornell University.

Sasha Mackler

Research Director

Sasha Mackler joined the National Commission on Energy Policy in 2002 after spending several years as an analyst in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Markets Division. At the Commission, Sasha conducts technical work on the economic, technological, and environmental aspects of energy production and consumption. While at the EPA, Sasha was involved in the design and evaluation of national emissions trading programs. He also had a lead role in maintaining and enhancing the Agency’s primary economic modeling tool for the electricity sector. Sasha’s technical expertise includes economic and financial modeling, the engineering of energy production, and emissions trading policy design. Prior to his graduate studies and employment with the EPA, Sasha lived in Europe and worked with an engineering firm specializing in sustainable and low-energy building design. Sasha holds a B.S. in Geo-Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester and both an M.S. in Earth Resources Engineering and an M.P.A. from Columbia University. Sasha lives with his wife, Ana, and their son, Soren, in Washington, D.C.

 

Elizabeth Osborne

Policy Analyst

 

Elizabeth Osborne joined the Commission in March, 2008. She holds an interdisciplinary Master of Environmental Studies degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, a program that combined environmental science with economics and policy. In the year prior to joining the Commission, Elizabeth worked as a technician at a wind energy consulting firm in Seattle, WA, monitoring meteorological towers as part of wind-resource assessment and feasibility studies.

Billy Pizer

Senior Economist

Billy Pizer is Senior Economist at the National Commission on Energy Policy and a Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future. Billy joined the Commission in August 2002 and has been at RFF since completing his MA and PhD in economics at Harvard University in 1996. At the Commission, Billy provides economic analysis and advice on the environmental and security problems surrounding energy use along with proposed policy responses. At RFF, Billy’s research seeks to quantify how various features of environmental policy and economic context influence a policy’s efficacy. He applies much of this work to the question of how to design and implement policies to reduce the threat of climate change caused by manmade emissions of greenhouse gases. During 2001-2002, Billy served as a Senior Economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers where he worked on energy, environment, and climate change issues. He was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Center for Environmental Science and Policy during 2000-2001, and taught at Johns Hopkins University during 1997-1999.

 

David Rosner

Policy Analyst

David Rosner joined the National Commission on Energy Policy in November, 2006. Previously, David spent three years as an economic analyst at Georgetown Economic Services, LLC, specializing in international trade, environmental, and Federal Trade Commission litigation matters. In addition, David provided technical support for the China Currency Coalition, an alliance of industry, agriculture, and labor organizations whose mission is to support U.S. manufacturing by seeking an end to Chinese currency manipulation. David holds Master’s degrees in Economics and Public Policy from American University, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Tufts University.

 

Marika Tatsutani

Senior Analyst

Marika Tatsutani has been a senior consultant to the Commission since 2003. She previously headed the Energy Program of the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), where she worked on energy policy and related air quality issues for the Northeast region. Prior to joining NESCAUM in 1994, Marika worked at the Consortium for Energy Efficiency in Boston and as a policy analyst for the Air and Energy Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington D.C. Marika holds an M.S. degree from the interdisciplinary Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley and B.A. degrees in Civil Engineering and English from Stanford University.

 

Tracy Terry

Technical Director

Tracy Terry is the Technical Director of the National Commission on Energy Policy. Prior to joining the Commission, she worked as an economist with the Department of Energy (DOE) analyzing the economic effects of electricity restructuring and environmental policies related to the electric sector. Tracy served on the interagency work group charged with developing the Administration’s multi-pollutant proposal, and she has analyzed a variety of issues related to the California power crisis. Prior to joining DOE, Tracy worked at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where she was a lead analyst for the U.S. Government’s review of international climate change policies proposed for the Kyoto Protocol. Tracy is an expert in energy-economic modeling and has used a wide variety of industry models for analysis. She holds a B.A. in Government and Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University.

 

Eric Washburn

Counsel

Eric Washburn currently is one of two principal partners and owners of Windward Consulting, LLC, providing federal legislative advice to industry, non-profit, and philanthropic foundation clients on a broad range of natural resource and energy issues. His primary work is as counsel to the Bi-Partisan Center/National Commission on Energy Policy. Previously, Mr. Washburn was the Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. In 2003, Mr. Washburn was a Senior Public Policy Advisor at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz. For over ten years, Mr. Washburn worked in various policy-making and management capacities in the United States Senate. From June 2001 until 2003, he worked for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle as a Senior Policy Advisor, during which time he oversaw the development and U.S. Senate passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2002. From January, 2001 until June 2001, he was the Staff Director for the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, staffing Ranking Member Harry Reid, returning to Senator Daschle’s office when Senator Reid ceded leadership of the committee to Senator Jim Jeffords. Before joining the EPW Committee, he was the Legislative Director to U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Thomas A. Daschle for four years. Prior to that, he was the Legislative Assistant to Senator Daschle for energy and environmental issues. He holds a Masters Degree in Forest Science from the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a Bachelors Degree in Psychobiology from Bowdoin College. Mr. Washburn has a wife, Robin Schepper, and a son, Marat.