Pakistan-born Ali Zaidi to Be Appointed as White House Deputy Climate Coordinator
Washington: Pakistan-born Ali Zaidi will be named White House's deputy Climate Change Coordinator under the Biden administration.
A report in The Washington Post said United States President-elect Joe Biden will likely appoint Gina McCarthy as the climate coordinator. McCarthy previously ran the Environmental Protection Agency under Obama-Biden administration.
Zaidi is tipped to be her deputy. He is currently serving as the Deputy Secretary for Energy and Environment in New York state and NY Governor’s efforts on all aspects of climate policy and finance.
Zaidi remained a part of the Obama-Biden administration for eight years in various roles including serving as an Associate Director at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and served as chief policy official for the implementation of the Climate-Action Plan. He also served as the Deputy Director of Energy Policy and Senior Director for Cabinet Affairs at the White House.
Zaidi previously served as a Precourt Scholar and Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and as an attorney in private practice.
A press release issued by Biden’s transition team described Zaidi as “a leading climate expert and longtime advisor to the president-elect”, noting that he helped draft and implement the Obama-Biden Administration’s Climate Action Plan and negotiate the Paris Climate Agreement.
Zaidi, who immigrated from Pakistan, grew up in the Rust Belt outside Erie, Pennsylvania. He studied at Harvard and Georgetown Universities.
“Zaidi brings the cross-sector and multi-disciplinary experience needed to deliver a whole-of-government response to the climate crisis,” the press release said.
He will work under Gina McCarthy, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former President Barack Obama and now leads a major advocacy group, to coordinate the new administration’s domestic climate agenda.
“This brilliant, tested, trailblazing team will be ready on day one to confront the existential threat of climate change with a unified national response rooted in science and equity. They share my belief that we have no time to waste to confront the climate crisis, protect our air and drinking water, and deliver justice to communities that have long shouldered the burdens of environmental harms,” Biden said in a statement.
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