Cathy Zoi is the former Assistant Secretary 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 and Silicon Valley private equity giant Silver Lake."[1]
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Zoi is the founding chief executive officer of the Alliance for Climate Protection, which was established and chaired by former Vice President Al Gore. Zoi served as the Chief of Staff 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 Program.[2]
She has worked for several energy-focused organizations, serving as the group executive director at the Bayard Group, recently renamed Landis+Gyr Holdings, which is a world leader in energy measurement technologies and systems; as the assistant director general of the New South Wales EPA in Sydney, 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.[2]
In February 2011, it was announced that Zoi had been hired by George Soros to run "a new investment fund that plans to profit off of the 'green energy' boom".[3]
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy that invests in high-risk, high-value research and development in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy 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.[2]
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.
The Alliance for Climate Protection was founded in 2006 by Nobel laureate and former United States Vice President Al Gore,[2] it is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis.[2] The organization oversees numerous campaigns, including Repower America, the Climate Project, Repower at Home, the WE Campaign, the Reality Coalition, and works with its affiliated organization, the Climate Protection Action Fund.
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 in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas 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 and Brian Johnson.[2] 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.[2]
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.[3] 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 was labeled Energy Star.[2] The EPA has estimated it saved about $14 billion in energy costs in 2006 alone. The Energy Star program has helped spread the use of LED traffic lights, efficient fluorescent lighting, power management systems for office equipment, and low standby energy use.[2]
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.[2]
Certain sources have indicated that Zoi may have conflicts of interest with regard to certain companies, and that she 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".[3][4] Zoi's holdings were known to the Senate when she was confirmed, and she has recused herself from decisions affecting her husband's company.[5]
Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner wrote in February 2011 that:[1]
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 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 that makes "smart meters", high-tech thermostats that the administration has promoted for saving energy. Pro-free-market writer and lawyer Chris Horner described the conflicts of interest: "Clearly, DoE 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."