Meet Jeanette Pablo: climate advocate, adventure traveler, and EFI’s General Counsel. Jeanette joined EFI in 2017 as one of its founding senior managers.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
My passion was and continues to be fighting anthropogenic climate change. As an environmentalist, I care deeply about the impacts of climate change on the global ecosystem and ensuring that solutions incorporate social justice. Energy access, climate change, global security and social justice are inextricably linked — in the U.S. and globally. I can think of no better way to spend my life than working on ways to achieve deep decarbonization while improving energy access.
What was your most rewarding experience prior to working at EFI?
Achieving the settlement agreement among EPA, the State of New Mexico, and PNM where I was the lead strategist. This was a multi-year negotiation and campaign to address complex issues and a wide range of stakeholders arising from the Regional Haze rule. The project involved the Clean Air Act, impacts on air quality in the region of the Grand Canyon, an economically challenged county, and the Navajo Nation. The settlement agreement concluded with the closure of half of one of the largest coal plants in the country with no employee retirements. For me, the most compelling moment was when we realized that a $2/ton carbon fee equalized the economic impact to the company between shutting down 738 MW versus 924 MW.
What’s the best thing about working at EFI?
The best thing about working at EFI is the drive to make a difference. The culture is not about egos or preferences or personal views. The entire team strives to achieve truly excellent work that can contribute in a meaningful way toward decarbonization and a clean energy transformation.
What are you the proudest of since working at EFI?
What a hard choice. If I have to pick it would be my role in the continuation and expansion of the U.S. Energy & Employment Report (USEER). When DOE elected not to produce the 2018 USEER, EFI teamed with the National Association of State Energy Officials and BW Research Partnership to continue the annual report. We created a new website (USEnergyJobs.org), added wage data collection and reached out to EPA to improve and clarify energy efficiency jobs. The USEER informs our understanding of the impacts of trends on energy jobs, and, now, how energy jobs can contribute to the post COVID economic recovery. Having a thriving energy workforce is essential to our economy and democracy. The USEER is a critical tool for achieving this goal.
What gives you hope for the future?
History. History is replete with violence and tumultuous times and also times of great humanity and social achievement. Our growing awareness of injustice is painfully gained but an important step toward addressing social, racial and and gender equity. I am hopeful that the lessons learned from these difficult and turbulent times will lead to new societal norms that are inclusive and respectful.
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