Nancy Sutley
Head of Council on Environmental Quality (since January 2009)
-
Text Size
Although her appointment to head the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) surprised some who were expecting a bigger, national name, Sutley has a long and robust record on environment and energy policy in both California and Washington, D.C.
Sutley has been working on climate and energy policy in the Golden State for the past decade. Prior to that, she was the special assistant to then- Environmental Protection Agency administrator Carol Browner (who was tapped to serve as Obama's energy and environment pointwoman, but announced her departure in early 2011.)
- Career History: Deputy Los Angeles mayor for energy and the environment (2005 to 2009); Mayor's representative to the board of directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (2006 to 2009); Deputy secretary for policy and intergovernmental relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency (1999 to 2003);Energy adviser to Gov. Gray Davis (2002 to 2003);Member, California State Water Resources Control Board (1999 to 2003)
- Birthday: April 20, 1962
Sutley was born in Argentina and raised in Queens, N.Y. She received her undergraduate degree in government from Cornell University and master's in public policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Clinton EPA
During the Clinton years, she was a senior policy adviser to the regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 9 office in San Francisco, as well as a special assistant to then-EPA administrator Browner. She has also served as the policy director for the National Independent Energy Producers and as an industry economist for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Perhaps Sutley's biggest accomplishment as Los Angeles deputy mayor was a plan to cleanup diesel trucks at the Port of Los Angeles, the country's largest seaport.
In March 2008, the Port of Los Angeles Commission adopted a plan requiring that all of the trucks that operate in the port to have clean-burning diesel engines by 2012. Beginning on Oct. 1, 2008, truck models older than 1989 were banned from the port -- which cut an estimated 50 percent of emissions in a single day -- and by 2012, only trucks that meet or exceed 2007 emissions standards will be allowed entry. The plan also requires all trucking companies that operate there to buy and maintain new, modernized rigs and to employ truckers, thus replacing the old system through which most truckers at the port were independent contractors. The city also approved an $800-million grant program to help subsidize the purchase of cleaner trucks, which can cost up to $125,000. The plan is expected to cut emissions at the port 85 percent in five years.
Sutley was a Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter during the 2008 Democratic primary, and was a member of her lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender steering committee. She was tapped to serve as a member of the Obama transition team reviewing the EPA.
During the Clinton years, Sutley was a special assistant to then-EPA administrator Browner; thus, the two of them have a storied history of collaboration. Browner was a member of the transition's advisory board, and headed up the transition energy and environment policy working group.
- http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/about_us/water_boards_structure/
- http://www.grist.org/news/2008/04/23/la_build/index.html
- http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar25-2008nov25,0,2714480.story
- http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/08/local/me-trucks8
- http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/12/10/154344/13
- http://www.milliontreesla.org/
- http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/board/board/sutley.html
The Post Most: PoliticsMost-viewed stories, videos and galleries int he past two hours
