New office to be led by climate, energy and agricultural policy experts Greg Jaffe and Ashley Nunes

BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Breakthrough Institute, a global research center that identifies and promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges, is pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Washington, DC. The office, on McPherson Square near the White House, will be led by Greg Jaffe, co-director for food and agriculture, and Ashley Nunes, co-director for energy and climate. Breakthrough’s Washington staff will focus on bringing ecomodernist ideas to conversations about public investment, regulation and trade policy.

Mr. Jaffe joins Breakthrough after working at the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, and, most recently, 20 years at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Mr. Nunes was previously a policy director at the R Street Institute and a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds academic appointments in the Department of Economics, at Harvard College, and in the Labor and Worklife Program, at Harvard Law School.

“We’re thrilled to have Ashley and Greg leading our new policy analysis, development, and government affairs work,” said Breakthrough’s executive director Ted Nordhaus. “After over a decade of making the environmental case for federal technology policy from our home base in California, having a permanent presence in Washington is long overdue.”

“Decarbonizing our economy requires timely, effective and pragmatic technology and policy solutions. Breakthrough is committed to delivering on these solutions and I am excited to be part of this journey,” said Nunes.

“I’m excited to take the excellent research and analysis performed by Breakthrough and use it to inform federal agriculture and food policy in a way that supports the adoption of technologies and innovative products that increase productivity while improving sustainability and lowering our carbon footprint,” said Jaffe.

Breakthrough’s 2023 priorities include increasing agricultural R&D through the Farm Bill, licensing reform for advanced nuclear reactors, and federal infrastructure permitting reform.

“After the passage of the IIJA and the IRA, the policy obstacles to decarbonization today are less the absence of subsidies and more the presence of regulatory obstacles,” said Breakthrough’s deputy director Alex Trembath. “From nuclear licensing to infrastructure siting to biotech regulation to transit and housing, building a future of abundance will require rethinking outdated regulatory approaches.”

Breakthrough’s work in Washington will be defined by a commitment to political pragmatism and working across the partisan divide.

“The success of any environmental policy reform will be measured over decades, and thus needs to be robust to uncertainty and political change,” said Nordhaus. “Taking on major environmental challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss doesn’t necessarily need bipartisanship, but it does at least require that the parties compete for who has the best solutions to achieve a prosperous low carbon future.”

About The Breakthrough Institute

The Breakthrough Institute is an environmental research center based in Berkeley, California. Our research focuses on identifying and promoting technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges in three areas: energy, conservation, and food and farming. For additional information about The Breakthrough Institute, please visit: https://thebreakthrough.org

Media Contact:

breakthrough@icrinc.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ef1ea360-9192-4d21-b7a2-a0eedf7c4bd9

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The Breakthrough Institute Opens Washington DC Office to Bring Ecomodernist Ideas to Conversations About Public Investment, Regulations and Trade Policy