Jon Foster’s work in Silicon Valley technology companies has taken him across the globe, and gives him a sobering view of our environmental future. Whether it’s the rapidly expanding number of cars in China, or the accelerating need for electricity in India, Jon sees evidence of the world’s increasingly unsustainable energy demands.

 

Jon’s interest in energy and environmental issues dates back to well before global warming was a household phrase. During the Clinton Administration, Jon served as a deputy director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and in 2004 he became a founding board member of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) which focuses on making early-stage investments in cleantech startups. He also serves as vice-chair of the Palo Alto Utilities Advisory Commission, providing policy guidance for a leading green municipal utility.

 

Jon joined E2 in 2006 after learning about it from fellow CalCEF board member Tom Jacoby. Jon said, “I was immediately attracted to the premise of E2, which is that good energy and environmental policy is good for business. I felt that way when I joined E2 four years ago, and it’s never been more true than it is now.”

 

Jon put his connections and political expertise to use when he joined E2 for our 2010 Washington, DC advocacy trip, where he was able to draw upon his global business experience to add real-life substantiation to the message that the U.S. needs to move quickly to put in place a policy framework recognizing the new clean energy economy of the 21^st century. Jon notes that, “there is no question that many new companies and new jobs are going to be created to address the world’s future energy needs” and he wants to ensure that as many of those new companies and jobs as possible are created in the United States. He says, “America needs policies to ensure that this is the result and if we fail to do so, we’ll end up watching businesses and jobs being created elsewhere.”

 

Jon said he very much enjoyed the DC trip, both for the opportunity to lobby members of Congress on energy legislation and for the opportunity to meet and work with other E2 members. In fact, he liked it so much that he returned for the 2012 trip. “It was gratifying to see how well E2 was received by members of Congress and their senior staff – a clear sign of the excellent work that E2’s leadership and other E2 delegates before me have done to establish E2 as a leading pro-environment voice for business.”

Jon says becoming an E2 member has deepened his knowledge of energy and environmental policy issues. And he appreciates the increasing circle of E2 members. “It’s great to see that more and more entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in cleantech appreciate the importance of energy and environmental policy and understand that environmental considerations and business considerations are not a zero sum game.” Jon looks forward to meeting more E2 members, and continuing to help push E2’s message at the state and federal levels of policymaking.