Terry Tamminen
Cullman Senior Fellow and Director, Climate Policy Program
Energy & Environment
Related Programs:
The Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, Climate Policy Program
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Terry Tamminen is the Cullman Senior Fellow for Climate Change and Director of the Climate Policy Program at the New America Foundation. The goal of this program is to build a national response to climate change through the establishment of state and local action plans.
Before joining New America, Mr. Tamminen headed California’s Environmental Protection Agency and was Cabinet Secretary and Chief Policy Advisor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Adept at the art of give and take, Mr. Tamminen is widely credited with the development and passage of California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. This legislation established the first comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases, and will reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020.
In 1993, Mr. Tamminen founded Santa Monica Baykeeper, serving as its Executive Director for six years. He also co-founded Waterkeeper programs in San Diego, Orange Country, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. He served for five years as Executive Director of the Environment Now Foundation (Santa Monica), and co-founded the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic at the UCLA School of Law. He has received many awards and honors for his achievements in the environmental field and has served on numerous civic and charitable boards and commissions, including the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, the U.S. Navy Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station Restoration Advisory Board, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Safety Committee, and the Wishtoyo Foundation, an organization that preserves natural resources by means of Chumash Indian traditional teachings.
Mr. Tamminen spent part of his youth in Australia and subsequently worked in Europe, Africa, and in all parts of the United States. Before committing himself to full-time environmental work, he was a successful businessman. He managed a multimillion dollar real estate company, owned and operated a successful recreational services business, and assisted the West African nation of Nigeria with the creation of its first solid waste recycling program.
He is the author, most recently, of Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Addiction to Oil, an unblinking account of the true price of petroleum and a prescription for change.
Before joining New America, Mr. Tamminen headed California’s Environmental Protection Agency and was Cabinet Secretary and Chief Policy Advisor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Adept at the art of give and take, Mr. Tamminen is widely credited with the development and passage of California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. This legislation established the first comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases, and will reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020.
In 1993, Mr. Tamminen founded Santa Monica Baykeeper, serving as its Executive Director for six years. He also co-founded Waterkeeper programs in San Diego, Orange Country, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. He served for five years as Executive Director of the Environment Now Foundation (Santa Monica), and co-founded the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic at the UCLA School of Law. He has received many awards and honors for his achievements in the environmental field and has served on numerous civic and charitable boards and commissions, including the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, the U.S. Navy Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station Restoration Advisory Board, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Safety Committee, and the Wishtoyo Foundation, an organization that preserves natural resources by means of Chumash Indian traditional teachings.
Mr. Tamminen spent part of his youth in Australia and subsequently worked in Europe, Africa, and in all parts of the United States. Before committing himself to full-time environmental work, he was a successful businessman. He managed a multimillion dollar real estate company, owned and operated a successful recreational services business, and assisted the West African nation of Nigeria with the creation of its first solid waste recycling program.
He is the author, most recently, of Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Addiction to Oil, an unblinking account of the true price of petroleum and a prescription for change.
Publications, Events and Press
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