Avi Zevin | All Carrots: Lessons From the Enactment, Implementation, and Defense of the Inflation Reduction Act

Bio: Avi Zevin recently concluded his service in the Biden Administration, most recently as Special Assistant to the President for Clean Energy Implementation, working with John Podesta and the White House team to advance policies and programs—principally those enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—that address climate change and facilitate the transition to a carbon-free, reliable, and cost-effective energy system. Avi was a day-one appointee at the United States Department of Energy, as the Principal Deputy General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel for Energy Policy, where he advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Energy and the Department’s senior leadership on legal and policy matters and led all aspects of the Office of General Counsel. Prior to joining the Biden Administration, Avi worked with Google to help the company develop its federal energy policy strategy in order to achieve 24/7 carbon-free energy procurement goals. Prior to that, Avi was a senior attorney and affiliated scholar at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law. Avi started his legal career as an attorney at the law firm Van Ness Feldman LLP. He holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law, an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A., with high honors, from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and daughter and plays drums in the DC punk rock band Weird Babies.

This event is presented as part of the 2025 Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge Seminar Series:

Most Mondays, Spring Semester 2025, 2:55-4:10 p.m.Zoom Link

This university-wide seminar series is open to the public (via Zoom), and provides important views on the critical issue of climate change, drawing from many perspectives and disciplines. Experts from Cornell University and beyond present an overview of the science of climate change and climate change models, the implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and food systems, and provide important economic, ethical, and policy insights on the issue. The seminar is being organized and sponsored by the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.