Introducing GreenBiz's 2024 Climate Policy Heroes
The inaugural list of changemakers making tangible impacts on climate policy. Read More
Graphics by Sophia Davirro and Julia Vann/GreenBiz
The leaders adapting and mitigating the impacts of climate change are as far away as the corridors of Washington, D.C., and as close as your local town hall.
The GreenBiz 2024 Climate Policy Heroes list highlights 15 of these leaders doing vital work to confront the climate crisis at the state, federal and local levels. Each honoree was nominated by their peers for their commitment and their tangible achievements, and each has carved a path toward transformative, creative and measurable change.
Lena A. Gonzalez, helping California divest from fossil fuels
Photo: Lena A. Gonzalez
California state Sen. Gonzalez served on the Long Beach City Council, where she led the creation of a Green Business program, a service that helps businesses transition to more sustainable practices. In the California state Senate, Gonzalez co-authored the historic Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, requiring large corporations in California to disclose their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. She also authored the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a law formally calling on the global community to divest from fossil fuels.
Michael Ogletree, combating air pollution in Colorado
Photo: Michael Ogletree
Ogletree, director of Colorado’s Air Pollution Control Division, spent four years as an environmental chemist and laboratory manager at a company that developed air pollution technology. He then transitioned to the public sector, where he worked as the air quality program manager for the city and county of Denver, where he developed and implemented the Love My Air Program, which provides real-time air quality monitoring. Ogletree partnered with a local aerospace engineering company to install monitors around Denver, providing round-the-clock insight.
Hannah Pingree, developing Maine’s offshore wind power
Photo: Hannah Pingree
Director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation & the Future, Pingree served as majority leader and then speaker of the House in the state Legislature. Pingree in 2019 was appointed by Gov. Janet Mills to lead the newly established Office of Policy Innovation. Pingree also co-chairs the Maine Climate Council, an assembly of scientists, legislators and business leaders who developed a four-year plan to decrease Maine’s emissions by 45 percent by 2030.
Brigid Shea, making an emissions-reducing work-from-home plan for Travis County
Photo: Brigid Shea
A Travis County, Texas, commissioner, Shea was elected to the Austin City Council in 1993, where she worked to establish the first wind energy project in Texas through a public-private partnership. She founded Carbon Shrinks, a consultancy that specializes in profitable carbon reduction. Shea is a three-time winner of the National Association of Counties Achievement Award for her remote-work initiative, which reduces emissions by enabling 75 percent of county employees to work from home permanently.
Ramez Ziadeh, replacing lead pipes in Pennsylvania
Photo: Ramez Ziadeh
A licensed engineer, Ziadeh is acting executive deputy secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. He has worked in water resource permitting, management and policy, working to increase transparency in the permitting process. He helped oversee the deployment of a $240 million grant from the Biden administration in 2022, using the funds to partner with Pennsylvania businesses and utilities to replace hundreds of lead pipe systems and update public water systems.
Amy Gilder-Busatti, tracking Baltimore’s sustainability progress
Photo: Amy Gilder-Busatti
Now Baltimore’s city sustainability manager, Gilder-Busatti has worked in the Baltimore City Office of Sustainability since 2010. She launched the city’s Sustainability Transparency & Accountability Tracks Systems (STATS), a program that tracks Baltimore’s progress against its 2019 Sustainability Plan. With STATS, Gilder-Busatti leads the annual development of Baltimore’s Sustainability Report as well as reviewing and approving environmental permit applications.
Lia Cairone, putting sustainability into the New York City budget
Photo: Lia Cairone
Cairone, director of sustainability and resiliency in the New York City mayor’s office, has been at the forefront of novel climate policy development in New York City. She previously served as deputy director for North America and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and was one of the chief architects of the 1.5C: Aligning NYC with the Paris Climate Agreement climate action plan. In her current role, Cairone developed and manages the city’s first Environmental Sustainability & Resiliency Taskforce, where she integrates climate investments into the city’s annual budget.
Kathy Kuntz, decarbonizing local businesses
Photo: Kathy Kuntz
Director of the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change in Wisconsin, Kuntz previously led Cool Choices, a game-based sustainability program designed to help businesses understand how to make greener choices that also support their business plans. She now works with local businesses to help them decarbonize, educating them about tax credits that serve that goal from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Lauren McLean, realizing Boise’s 100% clean energy plan
Photo: Lauren McLean
McLean, mayor of Boise, Idaho, served on the Boise City Council, where she led efforts to pass the city’s 100% Clean Energy Plan. The city’s first elected female mayor, she is vice chair of Climate Mayors, a bipartisan network of mayors from across the country who learn from one another’s sustainability strategies. “I want to do everything I can to make sure Boise is on the map and to elevate the work that we’re doing to open doors and opportunities for the city to do more,” she said. Boise’s Carbon Neutral by 2050 plan positions Boise to become a leader in geothermal power.
Dan Zhu, giving Gainesville a climate action plan
Photo: Dan Zhu
Zhu, chief climate officer for Gainesville, Florida, designed the first LEED-certified campus in Shenyang, China, and crafted a plan to combat sea level rise in Pangkalpinang, Indonesia, before becoming an urban planner for Marion County. In her current role, Zhu is creating Gainesville’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP). CAP’s purpose is to set emissions reduction goals and create strategies to adapt to climate change.
Laura Daniel-Davis, making offshore wind a reality
Photo: Department of the Interior
Daniel-Davis has more than 13 years of experience with the Department of the Interior. In her current role as acting deputy secretary of the Interior, Daniel-Davis focuses on “making offshore wind real, standing up a brand new industry off of America’s offshore,” she told GreenBiz. Daniel-Davis facilitated the interdepartmental and cross-industry communications needed to bring all parties to the table to create that industry. The Biden administration has since approved the development of eight offshore wind farms, with the first going live off the coast of New England in January.
Carla Frisch, connecting the DOE and IRS on clean energy tax credits
Photo: Department of Energy
Now the principal deputy director for the Department Of Energy’s policy office, Frisch has been at the DOE since 2008, a tenure that culminated in a Special Act Award for her leadership on the 2018 Clean Power Plan. In her current role, Frisch and her team provide guidance to the Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service regarding the use of clean energy tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Wahleah Johns, getting green jobs legislation done
Photo: Department of Energy
Johns, a member of the Navajo (Diné) tribe, directs DOE’s Office of Indian Energy. In 2009, Johns, as a co-director of the Black Mesa Water Coalition, helped pass the Navajo Green Economy legislation — making the Navajo Nation the first Native American group to pass any green jobs legislation. Now she oversees the office’s deployment of funds to tribal nations, including the recently announced $50 million grant for clean energy technology deployment on tribal lands.
Andrew Mayock, greening the federal government
Photo: The White House
As chief sustainability officer for the U.S. government, Mayock uses his decades of experience in the public and private sectors to lead sustainability initiatives for the White House, overseeing more than 300,000 buildings, 600,000 vehicles and a $600 billion supply chain. In 2021, Mayock launched the Greening Government Initiative, an international program that brings government officials together to share tactics to advance their sustainability work.
Harold J. Rickenbacker, reducing pollution and waste at seaports
Photo: Environmental Protection Agency
In his role as technical lead of the Environmental Protection Agency’s’ Ports Initiative, Rickenbacker is working to reduce pollution and waste at ports while building prosperity, especially in low-income communities. Rickenbacker designed the Clean Ports Program, a $3 billion initiative funded by the Inflation Reduction Act that will help ports fund zero-emission equipment and infrastructure, along with climate and air quality plans.
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