U.S. Interior Department names Elizabeth Klein to head offshore energy

On January 19, Elizabeth Klein, a lawyer who worked in the Obama and Clinton administrations, will step up to lead Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore oil, gas and wind development. Klein currently serves as a special advisor to White House Deputy Interior Secretary under current chief, Deb Haaland, and so she will not need to be confirmed as head of BOEM.

Klein will work on finalizing the administration’s five-year plan for offshore oil and gas development in areas of existing production. She will also oversee the president’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035.

Prior to joining the Biden administration, Klein worked as deputy director of the non-partisan State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law, which supported state attorneys general who filed litigation to protect environmental regulations and advance climate policies.