Browner, Carol, 1955-

Carol Browner.
Former Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
Carol M. Browner is the longest serving Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, serving from 1993 to 2001. Prior to that, she served as Florida Secretary of the Environment. Browner is a founder and principal of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm and of Albright Capital Management, an investment advisory firm that focuses on emerging markets. Browner served as the chair of the National Audubon Society Board of Directors, and sat on the Board of Directors of APX, the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Center for American Progress, and the League of Conservation Voters.

Carol M. Browner is Senior Counselor in the Sustainability practice at ASG, where she advises clients on environmental impact, sustainable strategies, and partnership development.

Ms. Browner served as Assistant to President Obama and Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, where she oversaw the coordination of environmental, energy, climate, transport, and related policy across the U.S. federal government. During her tenure, the White House secured the largest investment ever in clean energy and established the national car policy that included both new automobile fuel efficiency standards and first ever greenhouse gas reductions.

From 1993 through 2001, Ms. Browner served as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. As Administrator, she adopted the most stringent air pollution standards in U.S. history; set for the first time, a fine particle clean air standard; and spearheaded the reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act as well as the Food Quality Protection Act. She was known for working with both environmentalists and industry to set science-based public health protections while providing businesses important flexibilities in how to meet those standards. She worked across the agency to ensure a focus on protecting the most vulnerable, particularly children.

From 1991 through 1993, Ms. Browner served as Secretary of Environmental Regulation in Florida, where she launched the largest ecological restoration project ever attempted in the United States to restore the natural flow of water to the Everglades.

Ms. Browner earned her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Florida in Gainesville. She serves as Chair of the Board of the League of Conservation Voters, as Chair of the sustainability committee of the Board of Directors for Bunge Limited, as a board member of Innovyze, and as an advisor to Lime.

Carol Browner.
EXCLUSIVE.
Director, White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy (2009-2011)
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1993-2001)
Member of President Biden's Campaign Climate Engagement Advisory Council
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

For over a quarter of a century, Carol Browner has been at the forefront of the United States’ environmental and energy polices. As President Clinton’s EPA Administrator, President Obama’s "Energy Czar," and one of six members of President Biden's Climate Engagement Advisory Council during his campaign, Browner has negotiated, developed, proposed and implemented U.S. policy affecting global energy, environment, public health, and business matters.

Today, Browner provides her expertise through dual roles in the business and policymaking arenas and serves as a Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, as well as board chair of the League of Conservation Voters.

Carol Martha Browner (born December 16, 1955) is an American lawyer, environmentalist, and businesswoman, who served as director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. Browner previously served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. She currently works as a Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm.

Browner grew up in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida and the University of Florida College of Law. After working for the Florida House of Representatives, she was employed by Citizen Action in Washington, D.C. She became a legislative assistant for Senators Lawton Chiles and Al Gore. Browner then headed the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation from 1991 to 1993, where she turned it into one of the most active departments in the state government.

She was the longest-serving administrator in the history of the EPA, staying through both terms of the Clinton presidency. During her tenure, she reorganized the agency's enforcement structure and oversaw two new programs designed to create flexible partnerships with industry as an alternative to traditional regulation. She started a successful program to deal with contaminated lands in urban areas. She took the lead within the administration in defending existing environmental laws and budgets, and was the driving force behind a stringent tightening of air quality standards that led to a prolonged political and legal battle.

Afterward, Browner became a founding member of the Albright Group and Albright Capital Management in 2001. She also served on a number of boards of directors and committees dealing with environmental issues. Her director role in the Obama administration was sometimes informally referred to as the "Energy Czar" or "Climate Czar". Her efforts towards getting comprehensive climate and energy legislation passed in Congress came to no avail, but she assumed a prominent role in the federal government's response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill during 2010. She left her position in 2011 and the job itself was abolished shortly thereafter. Following that she rejoined the merged Albright Stonebridge Group, continued being active in several boards of environmental organizations, joined the boards of some energy- and agriculture-related companies, and became an advocate for nuclear energy in response to the dangers of global warming.

Born in Miami, Florida.