Abstract
NextGen Climate Founder and President Tom Steyer will address both the urgency and the complexity of mitigating climate change, and his efforts to bring climate change to the forefront of America's political dialogue. In reports released last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) affirmed that we can no longer wait to address this very real threat. He will also discuss the importance of making climate change a priority for our politics and policies in order to pave the way for a clean energy economy.
Biography
Tom Steyer is an investor, philanthropist and advanced energy advocate. He is also the President of NextGen Climate, an organization that acts politically to avert climate disaster and preserve American prosperity. Before retiring from the private sector, Tom founded and was the Senior Managing Member of Farallon Capital Management. He also was a Managing Director and member of the Investment Committee at Hellman & Friedman. Tom is actively engaged in climate politics and works to promote economic development and environmental protection in the state. In 2012, Tom served as co-chair with former Secretary of State George Shultz for Yes on Proposition 39, which closed a tax loophole for out-of-state corporations and created jobs in California. In 2010, Tom teamed again with George Shultz to defeat California’s Proposition 23, an effort by out-of-state oil companies to dismantle California’s groundbreaking clean energy law, AB 32. In 2013, Tom also supported the successful campaigns of Ed Markey for Senate in Massachusetts and Terry McAuliffe for Governor in Virginia. Tom Steyer Tom and his wife, Kat Taylor, joined Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates and other high-wealth Americans in the “Giving Pledge,” a promise to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable and nonprofit activities during their lifetimes. Tom and Kat created and funded the Oakland-based One PacificCoast Bank and Foundation, which provides loans and banking services to underserved small businesses, communities, and individuals in California and along the west coast. Tom serves on Stanford University’s Board of Trustees as Vice-Chair, where he and his wife founded two renewable energy research institutions: the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy and the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. Tom also founded Advanced Energy Economy, which works with businesses to make energy secure, clean and affordable, and Next Generation, which addresses energy and children’s policy issues. Tom and Kat have four children.