Experience
- U.S. Department of Energy
- California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research
- Risky Business Project
- Henry M. Paulson Institute
- Center for American Progress
Expertise
- Economic impacts of climate change
- Clean energy transition
- Energy and climate policy
- Green industrial strategy
Education
- University of California-Berkeley, J.D., M.C.P.
- Wesleyan University, B.A.
Recent Coverage
MAY 3, 2024
Semafor | Net Zero Newsletter
Kate Gordon, Visiting scholar at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business: Like the tobacco companies before them, some oil companies have clearly and consciously misled the public for decades in an effort to deflect attention from the realities of climate change (and role of fossil fuels in making the problem worse). There’s no question this will lead to increased litigation risk for these companies. The real question is: what will the public ask for as the remedy in these cases? So far, most climate litigation has focused on asking companies to help with the costs of adapting to climate change. But we may start to see AGs take a page from the tobacco playbook and start to ask for direct suport for energy transition strategies – economic and workforce development with clear community benefits – as well.
JAN 24, 2024
Bloomberg | Shawn Fain Takes On Musk, Trump Over Labor’s Green Future
While UAW members are counting on Fain to make their case to the Biden administration, Biden allies who worry about Trump riding an anti-EV backlash back into the White House are looking to Fain and his new political capital. “He needs to spend it helping with this,” says Kate Gordon, a former senior adviser to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Gordon acknowledges, however, that workers’ skepticism is earned—that for decades, including during the Obama years, when Biden was vice president, “we essentially let the bottom fall out of the supply chain” for green energy, exacerbating the advantages of competitors overseas.
OCT 23, 2023
POLITICO: Gavin Newsom embraces the role of climate governor with China trip
After Newsom decisively defeated a recall push in 2021, he was freer to move to the left, said Kate Gordon, who served as Newsom’s top climate adviser during his first term. “There’s a lot of political capital he got from that,” she said. “And then a couple of years of much less significant climate impacts and a decent budget gave him a lot of runway to do some of the things we’d been talking about from the beginning of his administration.”
SEP 2, 2023
EU Reporter | 25 visionary female leaders driving the climate change revolution
Through her work, Gordon is actively bridging the gap between clean energy and economic development. She continues to push for strategies that not only mitigate climate change but also stimulate economic growth and job creation, demonstrating that a clean energy economy can be a driver of prosperity.
Interested in speaking with Kate Gordon?
About Kate
Kate Gordon has spent the past two decades working at the intersection of climate change, energy policy, and economic development. Most recently, she served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the U.S. Department of Energy. Previously, Gordon served under California Governor Gavin Newsom as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor on Climate.
Trained as a community organizer, and later in law and regional economic development, her focus has long been on bringing diverse groups together to work toward a more sustainable, inclusive economy. Prior to being appointed OPR Director, Gordon was the founding director of the Risky Business Project, which focused on quantifying the economic impacts of climate change on key U.S. regions and sectors. Gordon has served in senior leadership positions at several nonpartisan think tanks, including the Henry M. Paulson Institute, the Center for the Next Generation, the Center for American Progress, and the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
Gordon got her start on energy and climate issues working at the national Apollo Alliance, where she ultimately served as co-Executive Director until the merger with the Blue-Green Alliance in 2011. Under her leadership, the Apollo Alliance drafted key parts of the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), including the Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit, and also partnered with the AFL-CIO to draft “just transition” proposals for several key energy and climate bills.
Gordon earned a J.D. and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California-Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University.
