Steering Committee

Bridgett Luther

Director, State of California Department of Conservation

As Director of the Department of Conservation, Bridgett Luther oversees a budget of $1.3 billion for a wide range of programs including land resource protection, beverage container recycling, geologival survey, mine reclamation, and oversight for oil, gas, and geothermal production. Previously she was the national development director for REP America (Republicans for Environmental Protection), which supports pro-environment Republicans. She helped create the first recycling program in the history of North Carolina's Mechlenburg County, led campaigns to create neighborhood parks and acquire land to protect the region's water quality, and founded the Carolinas office of the Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization.

Gary Gero

President, California Climate Action Registry

Gary Gero ensures that the Registry meets the highest standards for integrity, transparency and quality. He leads the organization’s efforts to support local government greenhouse gas emission reduction programs. Previously, Mr. Gero worked in local government for nearly 20 years, primarily in Los Angeles where he served as Air Quality Director and Assistant General Manager for the Environmental Affairs Department. Recently, he managed the Green LA programs at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. There he redesigned the LADWP Solar Program, expanded energy efficiency programs, and supervised tree planting, distributed generation, advanced transportation, and Green Power programs.

Laurie Weir

Portfolio Manager, CalPERS Global Real Estate Investment

For CalPERS Global Real Estate Investment, Laurie Weir manages a $5 billion portfolio focused on urban investment in domestic and international housing, office, retail, and industrial projects. Ms. Weir also leads policy and program development for affordable and workforce housing, Green Wave, emerging manager, and responsible contractor initiatives. Ms. Weir has served as Executive Director of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and Deputy Treasurer at the Office of the State Treasurer. Ms. Weir has also served as Finance Manager and head of Bond of Finance and Architectural Units for the City of Los Angeles Department of Housing. Previously a practicing architect, she co-founded Arkhos-Tekton, Architects, an architecture and real estate development firm.

Mark Cowin

Deputy Director for Regional Water Planning and Management, California Department of Water Resources (DWR)

Mr. Cowin is responsible for developing and implementing statewide integrated regional water management strategies, coordinating DWR efforts related to climate change, and updating and implementing the California Water Plan. During his 25 years with DWR, Mr. Cowin has also served as Chief of the Division of Planning and Local Assistance and Assistant Director for the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, the largest water management and ecosystem restoration program in the nation. Highlights of his tenure include overseeing the development of the 2005 update to the California Water Plan, administering grant and loan programs under Propositions 13, 50, and 84, and developing the water management components of the Governor’s Strategic Growth Plan.

Richard Cohen

Managing Director, Strategic Investments Group, Bank of America

Mr. Cohen is responsible all strategic investments in environmental initiatives for the Bank. He has significant governance experience and is currently director of six companies located in both North America and Europe. Prior to taking on the above roles in May 2000, Mr. Cohen was head of North American Interest Rate Swap Trading for Bank of America in Chicago. He joined Bank of America in early 1997 as head of U.S. Dollar Derivative trading in San Francisco. His derivatives experience includes more than five years at Lehman Brothers where he was head of dollar swap trading.

Rob Hammon, Ph.D.

Principal, Consol, Inc.

Dr. Hammon oversees ConSol’s consulting department, which specializes in new residential construction research and development. In 2006, he became co-chair of the New Solar Homes Partnership Advisory Committee, which advises the California Energy Commission on ways to encourage solar technology in new home construction. For a landmark research project launched in 2004, Dr. Hammon secured funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to build and test marketable prototypes that are 40% to 70% more energy efficient than typical new homes. In addition, he integrated two teams working on separate Commission-funded projects to design and build “zero energy” homes with production homebuilders and to develop methods for making such communities sustainable.

Timothy Tutt

Advisor to California Energy Chairperson Jackalyne Pfannenstiel

Mr. Tutt is the First Advisor to Commissioner Pfannenstiel, who was appointed Chair of the Commission in June 2006. Previously, he served as Technical Director of the Commission’s Renewable Energy Program (REP). He has worked a t the Commission since 1990, primarily addressing renewable energy, energy efficiency, air quality, and demand forecasting issues and policies. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Tutt spent eight years at Southern California Edison working on energy efficiency and demand forecasting, and three years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on energy and solar economics issues.

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