Kevin Kennedy

Kevin Kennedy
Director, U.S. Climate Initiative
kkennedy@wri.org|+1 (202) 729-7724

Kevin M. Kennedy oversees the WRI’s domestic climate and energy strategy, working with federal agencies, Congress, state governments, businesses, and other stakeholders to advance a clean energy economy and respond to climate change.

In addition to developing cost-effective, low-carbon policies, Kennedy will support WRI’s work with top American companies to develop new clean energy innovation strategies.

Prior to joining WRI, Kevin served as the Assistant Executive Officer in charge of the Office of Climate Change at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). In this role, he had broad responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), including leading the team responsible for evaluating and developing market-based compliance mechanisms, incentives, voluntary actions, offsets and other approaches for achieving emission reductions in support of AB 32. Before working for CARB, Kevin spent seven years working for the California Energy Commission. He served as Special Advisor to Commissioner Jeffrey D. Byron from Byron’s appointment to the Commission in June 2006. Mr. Kennedy also served as Special Advisor to Energy Commission Chairman Joseph Desmond prior to Desmond’s appointment as Undersecretary of energy affairs for California’s Resources Agency. His work at the Energy Commission also included managing the work for the 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report proceeding, which resulted in the Commission adopting a comprehensive review of California’s energy situation and recommendations for policies that will increase California’s energy supplies, reduce energy demand, broaden the range of alternatives to conventional energy sources, and improve the state’s energy delivery infrastructure.

Mr. Kennedy holds a Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group at University of California, Berkeley, and has more than 20 years experience in energy and environmental policy.

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Latest Post

Submitted on April 11, 2012
This piece originally appeared in the National Journal Energy and Environment Experts Blog. The U.S. electric power system is gradually shifting toward cleaner forms of generation. One sign of this transition is the declining use of coal for electric power production. In 2011, coal dropped to its lowest level of power generation in more than a decade, according to the U.S. government’s...

More Blog Posts

Submitted on April 3, 2012
This piece originally appeared in the National Journal Energy and Environment Experts Blog. EPA’s newly proposed standards are an important step toward addressing the threat of unmitigated carbon...
In Open Climate Network | Submitted on March 1, 2012
For too long, the United States has lacked a clear, national energy policy. Today, Senator Bingaman took a step in that direction by introducing the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 (CESA), which...
Submitted on February 2, 2012
This post originally appeared in the National Journal Energy & Environment Expert Blog. The question was, “Obama’s State of the Union: What Does It Mean for the Energy Agenda?...
Submitted on January 20, 2012
On January 23, WRI will host a high-profile roundtable discussion on “The State of the Clean Air Act: Past, Present and Future.” The event will be moderated by Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Senator...
In Open Climate Network | Submitted on December 21, 2011
As the year winds down, it’s a good time to take stock of climate policy in the United States. Here’s a quick round up of what happened – or didn’t happen – in 2011. The year began with...
Submitted on December 20, 2011
Shale gas is a game-changer for global energy supply. It is already transforming the U.S. energy outlook, and is expected to deliver over 40% of domestic gas production by 2025 (Figure 1). Other...
In Open Climate Network | Submitted on November 15, 2011
While there has been little progress on national climate policy this year, California has quietly continued to make strides in implementing its comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction...
Submitted on September 15, 2011
A version of this piece originally appeared in a special energy section of The Hill. 2011 was the summer of extreme weather— from the massive drought in the Southwest to record-breaking heat waves...
In Open Climate Network | Submitted on July 15, 2011
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff is holding a workshop today on additional details that were recently announced for California’s cap-and-trade program. These details on allowance...