Cathy Zoi was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 19, 2009 as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). In her role as Assistant Secretary, Ms. Zoi manages the U.S. Department of Energy's $2.3 billion annual budget, investing in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
A major priority in Ms. Zoi's tenure at the U.S. Department of Energy has been improving energy efficiency in the American economy. In her first year, she oversaw the development and rollout of more than 25 "Better Buildings" projects, supporting innovative and self-sustaining approaches to building retrofits nationwide. Additionally, she has championed improvements to energy efficiency standards for common appliances that will save Americans over $200 billion in the next 30 years. In renewable energy, Ms. Zoi has targeted research investments toward high-impact innovations and developed signature initiatives in solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower to reduce the time spent between "invention" and commercial deployment. She has also made it a personal priority to attract and recruit the best and brightest talent for EERE, while raising public awareness about the tremendous potential for clean energy—or as she puts it "winning hearts and minds."
Ms. Zoi oversees EERE's $16.8 billion in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Under Ms. Zoi's leadership, EERE is capitalizing on the opportunity the Recovery Act represents to deploy clean energy technologies nationwide. By 2012, her office will oversee thousands of community-driven local clean energy projects, including the weatherization of nearly 600,000 homes. EERE is also overseeing the launch of hundreds of new advanced battery manufacturing and electric vehicle projects that will permanently change our transportation infrastructure. In partnership with the private sector, her office is investing more than $4 billion in new renewable energy technologies, including crucial investments in solar energy manufacturing, wind turbine reliability, and geothermal technologies.
Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Zoi spent over two decades working on clean energy development and deployment, including extensive experience in the public sector and private businesses. She was founding CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection, where she launched the Repower America challenge with Vice President Gore. Prior to that, Ms. Zoi was Group Executive Director at the Bayard Group Global, a private equity fund focused on energy measurement and management. She was also Assistant Director General of the New South Wales (NSW) Environmental Protection Agency in Sydney, Australia; founding CEO of the NSW Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA); Chief of Staff on Environmental Policy in the Clinton White House; and manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where she pioneered the ENERGY STAR Program. Ms. Zoi has served on boards and advisory committees of a variety of companies in the clean technology sector.
She earned a B.S. in Geology from Duke University (Magna cum laude) and an M.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth College.
In her case, B.S. = Bull Sheet and M.S. = More of the Same.
Wow, that’s just incredible. Does anyone see anything resembling a private sector business in that 2nd to the last paragraph? They claim one, but I don’t see one.