Proven Environmental Leader Joins as Texas Director of EDF Clean Energy Program

(AUSTIN – January 5, 2015) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced today the hire of John Hall as Texas Director, Clean Energy.

Hall joins EDF with more than fifteen years of public service and twenty years of consulting for various Texas cities and businesses, including the Port Arthur Environmental Justice Initiative, CPS Energy in San Antonio, the Lower Colorado River Authority, Municipal Utility District 50 in Houston, and Austin Energy. Hall previously served as the executive director for The Texas Environmental Research Consortium in Houston; chairman at The Texas Water Commission and The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (predecessor agencies to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality); project manager and facilitator at The Port of Houston Authority; and as deputy commissioner at the Texas General Land Office.

Hall has distinguished himself in the area of environmental and water advocacy and legislative strategy, managing projects and passing legislation covering safe water management, clean air initiatives, and energy conservation and renewable energy planning.

In his new role at EDF, Hall will apply his many years of environmental advocacy leadership experience to lead EDF’s clean energy efforts in Texas. Specifically, Hall will develop and implement a comprehensive plan to increase the utilization of Texas’ abundant clean energy resources, including wind, solar, energy efficiency, demand response, and natural gas in order to significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2030. Through legislative and regulatory reforms, the EDF Clean Energy Program aims to put the right policies in place to accelerate investments in clean, homegrown energy, address the need for reliable power, and reduce harmful pollution sharply, while spurring economic development, creating jobs and helping Texas gain a global leadership position in the multi-trillion dollar clean energy economy.