CATF bolsters U.S. state policy team, expanding state policy footprint with regional experts
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) has expanded its state policy footprint by welcoming three regional policy experts to its new U.S. State Energy and Climate Policy Program. Paula Leverett Cobb, Lindsay Cooper, and Patrick Cummins will lead CATF’s state policy work in the Southeast, Gulf Coast, and West, respectively. They bring significant public and private sector experience as well as deep connections with state decisionmakers, businesses, and communities. They join Angela Seligman, CATF’s Senior Midwest Regional Manager, and Jeremy Tarr, CATF’s Director of U.S. State Energy and Climate Policy.
“I am excited to welcome Paula, Lindsay, and Patrick to CATF’s state policy team at such an important moment for state climate action,” says Jeremy Tarr, Director of CATF’s U.S. State Energy and Climate Policy Program. “Their decades of experience in public service, the private sector, research, and advocacy as well as roots in their respective regions will help states advance diverse climate solutions that strengthen their economies and local communities. Our expanded state policy team capacity allows us to collaborate with state officials and stakeholders across the country for durable climate progress that creates jobs and public health benefits.”
Read more about CATF’s U.S. State Energy and Climate Policy Program’s priorities and principles here.
Meet CATF’s U.S. State Energy and Climate Policy team
Paula Leverett Cobb, Senior Southeast Regional Policy Manager: Paula is an energy and environment attorney and policymaker with almost two decades of experience in public service and private sector utility work. She joins CATF from NextEra Energy where she led technical and policy teams overseeing water management, waste regulation, and emerging federal environmental regulations and supported the company’s Real Zero carbon plan. In addition to her private law practice, Paula previously worked at South Florida Water Management District, Duke Energy Florida, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Her experience includes permitting energy infrastructure and reclaimed water projects, advising executive and legislative branch leadership, leading large teams of energy and environment public service professionals and attorneys, and more. Paula is based in western North Carolina, and her portfolio covers Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Read her full bio here.
Lindsay Cooper, Senior Gulf Coast Regional Policy Manager: Lindsay comes from the Office of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, where she managed Louisiana’s Climate Initiative for three years, following her tenure as coastal resource advisor to the Governor. She spearheaded the Governor’s Climate Initiatives Task Force and led development and implementation of Louisiana’s first Climate Action Plan — the first state plan in the Gulf South designed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Lindsay is a Louisiana native, and her portfolio covers Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Read her full bio here.
Patrick Cummins, Senior Western Regional Policy Manager: Patrick joins CATF from the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University where he led the center’s work with western states, utilities, and stakeholders on the transition to a low-carbon economy. He has worked in the West on air quality and climate programs for more than three decades, including at U.S. EPA Region 8, Denver’s Regional Air Quality Council, the Western Governors’ Association, and the Western Climate Initiative. Patrick lives in Colorado, and his portfolio covers New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Read his full bio here.
Angela Seligman, Senior Midwest Regional Policy Manager: Angela joined CATF in early 2022. Prior to joining, she worked for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality where she was the project lead for North Dakota’s low-carbon future initiative. She also developed North Dakota’s High Efficiency Flare Program, was the lead air quality representative designing environmental justice policies for North Dakota and revised North Dakota’s Air Pollution Control Rules. Angela lives in North Dakota, and her portfolio covers North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Read her full bio here.
John Carlson, Senior Northeast Regional Policy Manager: John joins CATF from Ceres, where he utilized the unique perspective and resources of the business community to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation policies in states throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. John supported the design, adoption and implementation of regional transportation policies, the development of the offshore wind industry, advancements in energy efficiency and building decarbonization, passage of environmental justice provisions, and design of carbon trading programs. John lives in Massachusetts and his portfolio covers Maine, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Read his full bio here.
Press Contact
Samantha Sadowski, Communications Manager, U.S., ssadowski@catf.us, +1 202-440-1717
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With 25 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
