Hal Harvey is the CEO of Energy Innovation, an energy and environmental policy firm. He has also worked in various capacities for environmentalist grantmaking foundations, including the Energy Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and ClimateWorks Foundation.

Background

Harvey earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University in engineering, with a specialization in energy planning. ¹

From 1990 through 2001, Harvey served as president of the Energy Foundation, which he also founded. Harvey served on energy panels appointed by Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton and has published two books and dozens of articles on energy and national security issues. ²

From 2001-2008, Harvey worked as environment program director at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ³

Harvey is also a senior fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Paulson Institute. He is the founder and former CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation, a network of foundations that promote polices to reduce the threat of climate change. ⁴

Policy Stances

In a September 2022 op-ed for Forbes, Harvey detailed how “climate citizens” can help American reach its “climate goals,” including by convincing utilities to close coal plants and transition to electric vehicles and advocating for state and local governments to subsidize such a transition. He also argues that states should require a percentage of all materials for infrastructure projects to be sourced using low-emission technologies. ⁵

Other Organizations

Hal Harvey is the president of the Climate Imperative Foundation, a San Francisco-based environmentalist advocacy group focused on climate change. Its major donors include the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which gave it a $20 million grant in 2021. Climate Imperative Foundation’s self-proclaimed values include “ambition,” “service,” “discipline,” and the left-of-center concept of “equity.” The foundation claims all its grantmaking is in service to these ends. Its stated mission is to “cut global carbon emissions at speed and scale” by advocating for left-of-center energy policies and environmental regulations in “the world’s major emitting countries over the next decade.” ⁶

Harvey was formerly president of the Energy Foundation, also known as the United States Energy Foundation, a left-of-center “pass through” charitable foundation founded by and supported by a network of left-wing organizations. The foundation began in January 1991 as a $20 million collaborative between the Pew Charitable Trusts, various Rockefeller family foundations, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ⁷ The Energy Foundation describes itself as a nonpartisan grant maker with a focus on building a “new energy economy.” ⁸

1. “Hal Harvey.” The American Academy in Berlin. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.americanacademy.de/person/hal-harvey/
2. “Hal Harvey.” The American Academy in Berlin. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.americanacademy.de/person/hal-harvey/
3.  “Hal Harvey.” The American Academy in Berlin. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.americanacademy.de/person/hal-harvey/
4. “Hal Harvey.” The American Academy in Berlin. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.americanacademy.de/person/hal-harvey/
5. Harvey, Hal. “The Big Fix: Seven Ways “Climate Citizens” Can Help Reach America’s Climate Goals.” Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2022/09/20/the-big-fix-seven-ways-climate-citizens-can-help-reach-americas-climate-goals/?sh=6b017bfb599d
6. “Mission & Values.” Climate Imperative. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/mission-values/.
7. “Energy Foundation.” Activist Facts. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.activistfacts.com/foundation/88-EnergyFoundation/
8. “About Us.” Energy Foundation. Accessed April 15, 2023. http://www.ef.org/about-us/