All Carrots: Lessons from the Enactment, Implementation, and Defense of the Inflation Reduction Act
Event Summary
After numerous attempts by previous Administrations to pass comprehensive climate legislation, President Biden enacted the most significant climate and clean energy law in U.S. history—the Inflation Reduction Act. President Trump is now working to dismantle that law, in the Executive Branch and the Congress. What was the theory behind the law? How did that translate into implementation? And what does it mean for the law’s durability in the face of a now hostile government? What lessons can be drawn from this experience for future attempts at climate policy action?
Space for this event is limited. If you are interested in attending, please email arwenk@upenn.edu. Lunch will be provided immediately following the talk.
Avi Zevin
Former Special Assistant to the President for Clean Energy ImplementationAvi Zevin recently concluded his service in the Biden Administration, most recently as Special Assistant to the President for Clean Energy Implementation. Avi was a day-one appointee at the U.S. DOE, as the Principal Deputy General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel for Energy Policy.
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.
