Nathaniel O. "Nat" Keohane is an American environmental economist who serves as president at the  Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). Previously, Keohane served as Senior Vice President for Climate at the

Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Defense Fund or EDF (formerly known as Environmental Defense) is a United States-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, and hu ...

. He also served in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

as special assistant to President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

and taught economics at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. He is married to Georgia Levenson Keohane, a Senior Fellow at New America.

Education and career

Keohane received a B.A. in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

from Yale University in 1993. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 2001. From 2001 to 2007, he was an Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor of Economics at the Yale School of Management. Keohane then became Director of Economic Policy and Analysis and then Chief Economist at Environmental Defense Fund. While there he played "a leading role in helping to shape the group's advocacy on domestic and international climate policy." As an expert on environmental policy, Keohane testified before various committees of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. His testimony included two appearances before the Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. He also submitted a written statement to a Ways and Means Committee hearing on "Policy Options to Prevent Climate Change". From January 2011 to mid-2012, Keohane served in the Obama Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Environment in the National Economic Council and

Domestic Policy Council The Domestic Policy Council (DPC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for the consideration of domestic policy matters and senior policymaking, Cabinet, and White House officials. The Council is part of the Office ...

, where he helped to develop and coordinate administration policy on a wide range of energy and environmental issues. He rejoined the EDF in September 2012. Keohane is "noted for his optimism regarding the role markets can play in resolving global warming." Keohane believes most power industry projections of how much it will cost to address global warming are too high. He says estimates tend "to be much higher than the actual costs. The reason is they can't take into account technological innovation." Keohane was an ardent supporter of

cap and trade Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...

during his first tenure at EDF. He outlined that belief in a 2007 article in which he wrote, "The solution is to harness the power of market forces by establishing firm caps on greenhouse gas emissions… If the government will lead by capping carbon pollution, the primary cause of climate change, the market will respond with investment and innovation on a scale to solve this problem." In his capacity as special assistant to the President, Nat Keohane was a guest on ''

CNN Tonight ''CNN Tonight'' is a title that has been used by multiple news programs broadcast by the U.S. cable news channel CNN. The title has primarily been used for transitional programs aired by CNN in the evening and prime time hours as part of chang ...

'', ''

The Diane Rehm Show ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was a call-in show based in the United States that aired nationally on NPR (National Public Radio). In October 2007, ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was named to the Audience Research Analysis list of the top ten most powerful nati ...

'' and interviewed on radio, in relation to a 2012 proposed bill to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gases, "an important step towards the president's goal of doubling clean energy by 2035," said Keohane. In 2012, Keohane returned to the

as Vice President for Global Climate, and later served as Senior Vice President for Climate. He led EDF’s research and policy advocacy on climate change in the United States and globally until 2021. In July 2021, joined the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) as President of the environmental policy research organization, leading the non-profit in making the case for ambitious and durable climate policies. C2ES partners with business leaders — through their Business Environmental Leadership Council — to develop solutions that will accelerate a low-carbon transition, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and grow an equitable economy. An accomplished rower while at Yale, he held the Club Singles course record at the Head of the Charles for 20 years after it was set in 1997.

Book

Markets and the Environment
' (Second Edition), with Sheila M. Olmstead (Island Press, 5 January 2016)

References

External links

Nat Keohane
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions {{DEFAULTSORT:Keohane, Nathaniel O. 21st-century American economists Climate economists Energy economists Environmental economists Harvard University alumni Obama administration personnel Yale University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)