Person

David Hayes

Nationality:

American

Occupation:

Environmental Lawyer

Political Party:

Democratic Party

Residence:

Washington D.C.

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

David Hayes is a left-of-center environmentalist lawyer and activist who has held senior roles in several Democratic Party presidential administrations. 1 Hayes is on the board of directors of the environmentalist finance institution Coalition for Green Capital and a senior fellow at the left-of-center Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) . 2

From 2021 to 2022, Hayes was the Biden administration‘s Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy. He was a climate policy advisor for the Biden-Harris Transition Team 3 and the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama administration and Clinton administration. 4 5

Career

David Hayes is a left-of-center environmentalist lawyer and activist who has held senior roles in several Democratic Party presidential administrations. 6 As of June 2024, Hayes is on the board of directors of the environmentalist finance institution Coalition for Green Capital, 7 serves as a senior fellow at the left-of-center Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), 8 and as a lecturer at the Stanford University School of Law and Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. 9 He has also lectured at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment. 10

Hayes supports the far-left “Justice40” Initiative at the U.S. Department of Energy, has supported the introduction of national environmentalist climate legislation, and teaches courses on climate-related agriculture and forestry practices. 11

Prior to joining the Biden administration in January 2021, Hayes was executive director of the State Energy and Impact Center at the New York University School of Law. Hayes is the former chairman of the board of the left-of-center Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the former chair of law firm Latham and Watkins’ environmental, land, and natural resources department. 12 He was a senior fellow at the left-of-center William and Flora Hewlett Foundation from September 2013 to June 2014 and a senior fellow at the World Wildlife Fund from September 2007 to August 2008. 13

Political Activities

From January 2021 until October 2022, David Hayes was the Biden administration‘s Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy. In this role, Hayes promoted Biden administration climate, weather-dependent energy, and conservation policy priorities. 14 15 He worked with the National Climate Advisor and the cabinet-level National Climate Taskforce on left-of-center and environmentalist issues, including transitioning the United States’ energy production towards weather-dependent energy, expanding offshore wind power development, and launching the Climate Mapping Resilience and Adaptation portal, which measures the alleged impacts of climate change on different communities. 16 17 18 Hayes was also a climate policy advisor for the Biden-Harris Transition Team. 19

During the Obama administration and Clinton administration, Hayes was the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Hayes also led the energy and environmental agency review team for the Obama administration transition team in 2008. 20 His portfolio for the Obama transition included the  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Energy. 21 22

Personal Information

David Hayes graduated with a bachelor of the arts in government and English from the University of Notre Dame. In 1978, Hayes received a J.D. from Stanford University Law School.  23

References

  1. Bravender, Robin. “Ex-Biden aide joins board of carbon removal company.” E&E News by Politico. March 15, 2024. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.eenews.net/articles/ex-biden-aide-joins-board-of-carbon-removal-company/.
  2. “David J. Hayes Joins NRDC as a Senior Fellow.” NRDC. January 12, 2023. Accessed June 24, 2024. https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/david-j-hayes-joins-nrdc-senior-fellow.
  3. “Speaker Details.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Events Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://events.uschamber.com/EnergyInnovates/speaker/263938/david-hayes.
  4. “Experience.” David Hayes LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-hayes-03061914/.
  5. “Speaker Details.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Events Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://events.uschamber.com/EnergyInnovates/speaker/263938/david-hayes.
  6. Bravender, Robin. “Ex-Biden aide joins board of carbon removal company.” E&E News by Politico. March 15, 2024. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.eenews.net/articles/ex-biden-aide-joins-board-of-carbon-removal-company/.
  7. “Board of Directors.” Coalition for Green Capital. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://coalitionforgreencapital.com/about-us/board-of-directors/.
  8. “David J. Hayes Joins NRDC as a Senior Fellow.” NRDC. January 12, 2023. Accessed June 24, 2024. https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/david-j-hayes-joins-nrdc-senior-fellow.
  9. “Experience.” David Hayes LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-hayes-03061914/.
  10. Hayes, David. “Stanford’s David Hayes Advocates ‘Whole of Government’ Approach to Promote Climate Resilience. SLS Blog. December 5, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://law.stanford.edu/2022/12/05/stanfords-david-hayes-advocates-whole-of-government-approach-to-promote-climate-resilience/.
  11. Hayes, David. “Stanford’s David Hayes Advocates ‘Whole of Government’ Approach to Promote Climate Resilience. SLS Blog. December 5, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://law.stanford.edu/2022/12/05/stanfords-david-hayes-advocates-whole-of-government-approach-to-promote-climate-resilience/.
  12. “Speaker Details.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Events Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://events.uschamber.com/EnergyInnovates/speaker/263938/david-hayes.
  13. “Experience.” David Hayes LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-hayes-03061914/.
  14. [1] “Experience.” David Hayes LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-hayes-03061914/.
  15. “Speaker Details.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Events Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://events.uschamber.com/EnergyInnovates/speaker/263938/david-hayes.
  16. “Experience.” David Hayes LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-hayes-03061914/.
  17. “Speaker Details.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Events Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://events.uschamber.com/EnergyInnovates/speaker/263938/david-hayes.
  18. Bravender, Robin. “Senior White House climate official steps down.” E&E News by Politico. September 30, 2022. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.eenews.net/articles/senior-white-house-climate-official-steps-down/.
  19. “Speaker Details.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Events Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://events.uschamber.com/EnergyInnovates/speaker/263938/david-hayes.
  20. “Speaker Details.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Events Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://events.uschamber.com/EnergyInnovates/speaker/263938/david-hayes.
  21. “Experience.” David Hayes LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-hayes-03061914/details/experience/.
  22. Hayes, David. “Stanford’s David Hayes Advocates ‘Whole of Government’ Approach to Promote Climate Resilience. SLS Blog. December 5, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://law.stanford.edu/2022/12/05/stanfords-david-hayes-advocates-whole-of-government-approach-to-promote-climate-resilience/.
  23. “Experience.” David Hayes LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-hayes-03061914/details/experience/.
  See an error? Let us know!