Power Players in Climate, Energy and Sustainability

Dan is an environmental lawyer who helps domestic and international developers as well as governmental entities navigate the environmental review processes required for wind, solar and other complex projects.  Among other work in the offshore wind space, Dan assists Equinor with permitting for the Empire Wind 1, Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 projects off of New York State. Together, these offshore projects will create enough renewable energy to power two million homes.

Is there one major climate issue your organization is looking to tackle?
Decarbonization of the electrical grid by assisting with the development of offshore wind, solar and other renewables.

Commissioner Rory M. Christian is the chair and chief executive officer of the Public Service Commission. He began his career as a civil engineer before becoming director of energy finance and sustainability for the New York City Housing Authority. More recently, he was the director of New York Clean Energy at the Environmental Defense Fund. He currently teaches courses at  Columbia University. He is the former chair of WE ACT for Environmental Justice’s Board of Directors. 

What does sustainability mean to you?
Meeting our needs today without compromising the future of our children.

Is there one major climate issue your organization is looking to tackle?
Reducing emissions while keeping the power flowing.

What is one thing everyone can do to help protect the environment?
Follow the three “R’s”. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

What steps are your organization taking to ensure a sustainable future?
“We’re making the electric grid of the future a reality today.”

Dublin native Peter Clarke grew up on David Attenborough’s nature documentaries, moved to NYC in 2010 as a mechanical engineer with a deep love for the natural world, and has worked in sustainability in the built environment ever since. Now a managing director, energy and sustainability, at CBRE, and an adjunct professor at Columbia’s Climate School, Clarke teaches about GHG emissions: how we quantify them, and how we can – and must – reduce them.

What does sustainability mean to you?
To protect this wondrous blue marble for those who come later, be they humankind or of other species. Few described this mission better than Carl Sagan when he presented that famous 1990 image of Earth taken by the Voyager spacecraft from the edge of the solar system: “To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the Pale Blue Dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

Is there one major climate issue your organization is looking to tackle?
CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate company, so we have both the ability and the responsibility to accelerate the decarbonization of  real estate. To that end, our teams work on all of the ingredients of real estate decarbonization – from GHG inventories and sustainability analytics, to emissions reduction goals and strategies, to energy conservation and renewables installation projects, to addressing applicable elements of Scope 3, especially understanding and decarbonizing supply chains. 

What is one thing everyone can do to help protect the environment?
I lived in Manhattan for 10 years, so I know it’s not easy to make sustainable choices, especially as a renter, but here a few ideas: 

1. Join an NYC community solar program: https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/NY-Sun/Solar-for-Your-Home/Community-Solar/Community-Solar-Map 
2. Reduce food waste, and find a way to compost near you. The city is working to make this easier! 
3. Visit the Simms recycling plant at Sunset Park and learn about recycling – their tours are phenomenal! 

What steps are your organization taking to ensure a sustainable future?
CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate company, so we have both the ability and the responsibility to accelerate the decarbonization of  real estate. To that end, our teams work on all of the ingredients of real estate decarbonization – from GHG inventories and sustainability analytics, to emissions reduction goals and strategies, to energy conservation and renewables installation projects, to addressing applicable elements of Scope 3, especially understanding and decarbonizing supply chains.

For over 15 years, Anthony has been a leading voice in government affairs on land use, environmental, and energy issues. His work toward sustainability and a just transition has resulted in amendments to the NYC Administrative Code, and the passage of City, State, and federal laws. Anthony serves on the Board of the New York League of Conservation Voters and was named in City and State’s “Energy and Environment Power 100” in 2021 and 2022.

What does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability means balancing economic, social, and environmental needs to ensure a better future for ourselves and future generations. My firm serves as the bridge between communities, corporations, and government when it comes to achieving sustainability, and making decisions that will achieve climate goals set forth in landmark legislation like the CLCPA and Climate Mobilization Act while ensuring a more equitable world and grid reliability.

Is there one major climate issue your organization is looking to tackle?
There is no question that transmission improvements and energy storage systems are critical to capturing the most we can from intermittent renewables coming online like wind and solar. I’m proud to have worked on one of the first 100MW bulk storage projects in New York City, and on efforts to establish new incentives and tools to advance the State toward its 6000 MW goal of deployment.

What is one thing everyone can do to help protect the environment?
Practicing mindfulness is the most basic step everyone can take. Our individual capacity to curb plastics use, source separate organics, save energy, and reduce our impacts on the environment is subject to so many different factors on a day-to-day basis. We may never be perfect, but mindfulness is the key to ensuring each decision is made with the environment in mind.

What steps are your organization taking to ensure a sustainable future?
Where we see our biggest impact is through the legislation we promote, whether for our clients, or through my position on the Board of NYLCV. Whether it’s improving the EV charging infrastructure landscape in partnership with Electrify America and Lyft, or achieving the statewide 6GW energy storage goal with NineDot Energy, Jupiter Power, and 174 Power Global, or exploring more efficient recycling with WM, we strive to power toward a more sustainable future.

Braden Crooks is a founding partner at Designing the We, a social impact design studio operating in community-driven social and economic development and currently serves as chair of the board of the New York Sustainable Business Council. The New York Sustainable Business Council represents over 3,000 businesses championing an equitable and sustainable economy in New York. Mr. Crooks received his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University and his M.S. from The New School at Parsons School of Design.

Michael Daschle is a senior vice president in the Brookfield Properties US Office group, where he leads the national sustainability program for over 70M square feet of Class A office properties in major markets across the United States. He also co-chairs the company’s global Renewable Energy Advisory Committee. Prior to his current role at Brookfield, he worked in the New York Asset Management group, where he managed business planning and strategy for approximately ten million square feet of Class A office space. Prior to joining Brookfield, Mr. Daschle was a development project manager and asset manager for Tishman Speyer, and he served as an aviation officer and helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2012. Michael holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Joseph DeRosa leads the clean energy practice at the NYS lobbying powerhouse, Bolton-St. Johns. A former project manager at the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), it is now Joseph’s responsibility to have a finger on the pulse at the intersection of NYS policy and politics. He successfully advocated to shape the nation’s leading climate protection law and works on behalf of some of the biggest names in energy in pursuit of its goals.

What does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability is a mindset and awareness that opportunities exist in nearly every choice we make to learn from nature and live ever-more harmoniously with it, minimizing our impact on the planet and making intentional decisions to help improve it. 

Is there one major climate issue your organization is looking to tackle?
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“CLCPA”) codified aggressive mandates related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions coupled with clean energy deployment targets. A lot of our time is focused on engaging with and educating decision makers and stakeholders, working to advocate for best practices and policy changes that seek to amplify the benefits as we transition to a clean energy economy. 

What is one thing everyone can do to help protect the environment?
Start small and do the little things where you can, when you can. An important step along that never ending journey is becoming aware of the power of our everyday decisions and the impact an individual choice made every day can have over a lifetime.  

What steps are your organization taking to ensure a sustainable future?
Showing up to work every day. Without lobbyists, industry and advocates coming together, lawmakers and regulators would be lacking the necessary perspectives and understanding as they contemplate and negotiate important policy decisions that affect the lives and land, air and water of everyday New Yorkers. 

Susanne DesRoches is vice president of clean and resilient buildings at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Ms.DesRoches is leading the Authority’s work on building decarbonization and advancing programs and policies to deliver carbon-neutral, resilient buildings statewide. Prior to joining NYSERDA in April 2022, she served as regulatory director for energy policy at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate & Sustainability and Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency.

What does sustainability mean to you?
To me, sustainability is helping to create a future which is in balance across the economy, the environment, and our society. And from my perspective, cleaner and more resilient buildings are not just an energy issue or climate-based issue, they are health, comfort, productivity, resiliency, equity and economic development drivers. Buildings play a key role in a more sustainable future for all New Yorkers.

Is there one major climate issue your organization is looking to tackle?
NYSERDA’s focused on creating better spaces where we live and work by upgrading our buildings to be cleaner and more resilient. Buildings account for 30% of carbon emissions from fuel combustion, so our built environment constitutes an enormous piece of the puzzle we must solve to meet New York’s Climate Act. NYSERDA’s Clean and Resilient Buildings team is up for the challenge, but we’ll need lots of innovation, creativity and hard work to get there.

What is one thing everyone can do to help protect the environment?
It is critical to stay involved and informed about what is happening to our climate. We need both systemic change to shift to a clean energy economy and we need to meet people where they are so that they can participate in that shift, including helping them transition off of fossil fuels that heat their home and power their cars.

What steps are your organization taking to ensure a sustainable future?
NYSERDA is taking many steps to ensure a sustainable future, and we are working around the clock to achieve New York’s commitment to achieve two million climate-friendly homes by 2030. Meeting this goal presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform New York’s aging housing stock to create buildings that are healthier for occupants and communities, and that stay comfortable with affordable energy costs.

Prior to joining BDC, Lisa served as the senior campaign manager of the Sierra Club’s groundbreaking ‘Beyond Coal,’ campaign, where her leadership was instrumental in ending the use of coal fired power plants in New York State. She helped launch the state’s Offshore Wind Master Plan and the New York Offshore Wind Alliance, achieving the nation-leading mandate to source 9 gigawatts of electricity from wind coupled with the strongest labor standards in the nation.

Is there one major climate issue your organization is looking to tackle?
BDC Priorities include: building the market and scaling clean technologies, addressing energy affordability, energy equity and energy burden concerns, removing barriers, right-sizing New York’s gas distribution system, creating opportunities for neighborhood-scale decarbonization solutions such as Thermal Energy Networks, and promoting policies that create union and middle-class careers in decarbonizing our state.

What steps are your organization taking to ensure a sustainable future?
BDC convenes and works with policymakers, utilities, manufacturers, builders, designers, labor unions, environmental groups, and climate justice organizations, among others to come together around a common goal — decarbonize New York’s built environment. BDC works to create a shared vision, build strategy, and execute that strategy to achieve building emission reductions and improvements in public health at scale.  We focus on coalition building, policy, legislation, and regulation.

Gavin J. Donohue is the president and CEO of the Independent Power Producers of New York, Inc. (IPPNY). Mr. Donohue was appointed president and CEO of the association in May of 2003. While at IPPNY, Mr. Donohue has been a vocal proponent of improving New York energy policy and increasing competition in the state’s energy markets. He has been active on a variety of issues before the New York Independent System Operator, the New York Public Service Commission and both state and federal legislatures.