Assistant Secretary Alexander Karsner Announces Resignation

July 30, 2008

Alexander Karsner, DOE's Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, has announced his resignation, effective as of August 30. As the Assistant Secretary, Karsner managed DOE's $1.2 billion portfolio of applied science, research, development, and deployment for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Karsner was nominated by President Bush in December 2005, and after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he was sworn in by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman in March 2006. Since then, Karsner has been key in several initiatives, including the Advanced Energy Initiative, which provided a 22% increase in funding for clean energy technology research; the "Twenty in Ten" vision, which aims to reduce gasoline use in the United States by 20% in the next 10 years; the "Bali Roadmap," which was established at the U.N. Convention and the Major Economies Meetings and presents an international, post-2012 climate change and energy security framework; and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. See the DOE press release.