Cathy Zoi
Encyclopedia
Assistant Secretary
Assistant Secretary is a grade in the British Civil Service, now more commonly styled Divisional Manager or Deputy Director. In the grading scheme they are denoted Grade 5....
for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy. She is currently employed by Silver Lake Kraftwerk, "a partnership between Soros Fund Management
Soros Fund Management
Soros Fund Management LLC is an American, privately held, hedge fund management firm founded in 1969 by George Soros. In 2010 it was reported to be one of the most profitable firms in the hedge fund industry, averaging a 20% annual rate of return over four decades.-Overview:Soros Fund Management...
and Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
private equity giant Silver Lake
Silver Lake Partners
Silver Lake is a US-based private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries...
."
Career
Zoi is the founding chief executive officerChief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the Alliance for Climate Protection
Alliance for Climate Protection
The Alliance for Climate Protection was founded in 2006 by Nobel laureate and former United States Vice President Al Gore. The Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis...
, which was established and chaired by former Vice President Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
. Zoi served as the Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
in the White House Office on Environmental Policy in the Clinton-Gore administration, where she managed the team working on environmental and energy issues. She has also served as a manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she pioneered the Energy Star
Energy Star
Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was first created as a United States government program during the early 1990s, but Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted...
Program.
Zoi has also worked for several energy-focused organizations, serving as the group executive director at the Bayard Group, recently renamed Landis+Gyr Holdings
Landis+Gyr
Landis+Gyr, until early 2008 The Bayard Group, is a company focused on metering and other technologies which deal with management of scarce resources. Founded by Cameron O'Reilly, who is currently CEO, it has a revenue in excess of 1.25 billion USD per annum...
, which is a world leader in energy measurement technologies and systems; as the assistant director general of the New South Wales EPA in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia; and as the founding chief executive officer of the New South Wales Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA), a $50 million fund to commercialize greenhouse-friendly technology. Under her leadership, SEDA launched the world's first nationwide green power program and the world's largest solar-powered suburb.
In February 2011, it was announced that Zoi had been hired by George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
to run "a new investment fund that plans to profit off of the 'green energy' boom."
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
that invests in high-risk, high-value research and development in the fields of energy efficiency
Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:*Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency.*Energy conversion efficiency, the ratio between the output and input of an energy conversion machine....
and renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
technologies. The Office of EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who manages several internal EERE offices and ten programs that support research, development, and outreach efforts.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's mission, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Web site, is to strengthen America's energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality in public-private partnerships that enhance energy efficiency and productivity; bring clean, reliable and affordable energy technologies to the marketplace; and make a difference in the everyday lives of Americans by enhancing their energy choices and their quality of life.
The Office of EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Office manages ten major programs, each of which is responsible for research, development, and outreach in a particular field of renewable energy or energy efficiency.
Alliance for Climate Protection
The Alliance for Climate Protection was founded in 2006 by Nobel laureate and former United States Vice President Al Gore. The Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis. The organization oversees numerous campaigns, including Repower America, the Climate ProjectThe Climate Project
The Climate Project was founded by Nobel laureate Al Gore in June 2006 and is a non-profit organizationdedicated to calling attention to what it believes are global problems associated with climate change...
, Repower at Home, the WE Campaign, the Reality Coalition, and works with its affiliated organization, the Climate Protection Action Fund.
Energy Star Program
During her tenure at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Cathy Zoi pioneered the Energy Star Program.The Energy Star program was created in the early 1990s by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emission by power plants. The program was developed by John S. Hoffman, inventor of the Green Programs at EPA, working closely with the IT industry, and implemented by Cathy Zoi
Cathy Zoi
Cathy Zoi is the former Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. She is currently employed by Silver Lake Kraftwerk, "a partnership between Soros Fund Management and Silicon Valley private equity giant Silver Lake."-Career:Zoi is the founding...
and Brian Johnson. The program was intended to be part of a series of voluntary programs, such as Green Lights and the Methane Programs, that would demonstrate the potential for profit in reducing greenhouse gases and facilitate further steps to reducing global warming gases.
Initiated as a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy efficient products, Energy Star began with labels for computer and printer products. In 1995 the program was significantly expanded, introducing labels for residential heating and cooling systems and new homes. As of 2006, more than 40,000 Energy Star products are available in a wide range of items including major appliances, office equipment, lighting, home electronics, and more. In addition, the label can also be found on new homes and commercial and industrial buildings. In 2006, about 12 percent of new housing in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was labeled Energy Star.
The EPA estimates that it saved about $14 billion in energy costs in 2006 alone. The Energy Star program has helped spread the use of LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
traffic lights, efficient fluorescent lighting, power management
Power management
Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers, that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power state when inactive. In computing this is known as PC power management and is built...
systems for office equipment, and low standby
Standby
Standby may refer to:*Standby , a list in which passengers may request to be placed on to request an earlier or more convenient flight....
energy use.
In 2008, the EPA announced Green Power Partnership program, which was designed to help achieve its goal of encouraging the use of renewable power sources. The renewable energy credits allow companies without direct access to renewable power achieve their goals. However, to avoid companies buying RECs years in advance of any of the hypothetical power ever being produced, RECs are only accepted into the program when the actual equivalent renewable power will be produced.
Controversy
Since she took her position with the Obama administration, conservative authors have suggested that she may have conflicts of interest with regard to certain companies, and that she has used her position in the Obama administration to benefit them. She owns stock in Landis+Gyr, and her husband Robin Roy is Vice President for Policy (and a stockholder) of Serious Materials, an efficient window company "which the White House regularly held up as a "poster child of green industry." Zoi's holdings were known to the Senate when she was confirmed, and she has recused herself from decisions affecting her husband's company.Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner
Washington Examiner
The Washington Examiner is a free daily newspaper published in Springfield, Virginia, and distributed in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz....
wrote in February 2011 that:
Zoi's tenure at EERE was rife with conflicts of interest. Her husband, Robin Roy, is an executive at Serious Materials, a small window manufacturer that boomed when Obama came to office. First, Serious Materials benefited from free advertising by the White House: President Obama praised a new Serious factory in March - before he officially nominated Zoi - and then Vice President Biden made a public visit to a different Serious plant in April, just after her nomination but before her confirmation. Finally, Serious was also the first window company to pocket a stimulus tax credit - worth $584,000 - for investing in new equipment.
Zoi testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in favor of a HOMESTAR
HOME STARHOME STAR, , informally known as Cash for Caulkers, is a United States government program proposed in November, 2009 to encourage economic growth by offering incentives to homeowners and retailers for improving the energy efficiency of existing homes.-Background:In late 2009 there was a broad...
program, also known as cash for caulkers, which became another subsidy for Serious.
At the time of her nomination, the couple owned between them 120,000 stock options in Serious Materials, according to her April 2009 personal financial disclosure. She also owned at least $265,000 of stock in a Swiss company called Landis+Gyr
Landis+GyrLandis+Gyr, until early 2008 The Bayard Group, is a company focused on metering and other technologies which deal with management of scarce resources. Founded by Cameron O'Reilly, who is currently CEO, it has a revenue in excess of 1.25 billion USD per annum...
that makes "smart meters," high-tech thermostats that the administration has promoted for saving energy. Pro-free-market writer and lawyer Chris HornerChristopher C. HornerChristopher C. Horner is an attorney in Washington, D.C., a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the author of three books on global warming....
described the conflicts of interest: "Clearly, DoEUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
funding to encourage the adoption of 'smart meters' would very likely lead to much increased sales by Landis+Gyr -- and a potential windfall for Zoi."