Contact: Alex Oltmanns
Date: July 31, 2015
Phone: (412) 481-4900
Email: [email protected]
Pittsburgh – The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) is pleased to announce that Lindsay Baxter, PEC’s Program Manager for Energy & Climate, has been named one of two Americans to receive a 2015 McCloy Fellowship in Environmental Policy through the American Council on Germany. The program allows Baxter to travel to Germany for three weeks this fall to study energy policy in that country.
Recipients of the fellowship design their own research project and itinerary and Baxter’s research will focus on the challenges and opportunities of integrating increasing amounts of renewable energy into the electricity grid. This is an issue with immediate applicability in Pennsylvania as our percentage of renewable electricity increases. While in Germany, she will explore both technical solutions, such as advanced battery storage and smart grid technologies, as well as policy-based options.
“It really is an honor to be selected for such a prestigious fellowship,” Baxter said. “I am anxious to share what I learn through this experience with partners across Pennsylvania and use it to inform PEC’s work towards an affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy future.”
Baxter, who is certified as a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP), manages PEC’s programs related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate protection, including low-impact hydroelectricity development and PEC’s participation in the ReEnergize Pgh Coalition and the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative. She has also been instrumental in the implementation of PEC’s River Town Program.
“This is a great opportunity for Lindsay, and we are looking forward to seeing her apply new learnings from Germany to her work here in Pennsylvania,” PEC President Davitt Woodwell said.
The other fellowship recipients include one American and two Germans: Alan Cohn, Climate Program Director for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection; Frank Osterhage, Deputy Head of the Research Group on Development of City Regions at the ILS – Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development; and Alexandra Seibt, Project Coordinator for Research Group: Sustainable Protection and Consumption at Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy.
About the Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Founded in 1970, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council is the leading environmental organization in the state, and was instrumental in the passage of nearly every major piece of legislation and regulatory initiative affecting clean air, clean water, land use and conservation, hazardous materials, and other major public policy actions since that time. Today, the organization is heavily engaged in a number of critical initiatives surrounding the development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, trail and green space development, green energy and climate change programs, water quality, and watershed protection projects.
PEC serves the entire state with programs and staff spanning the Commonwealth. For more information, visit www.pecpa.org.
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