Joseph J. Romm
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Dr. Joseph J. Romm was born on June 27, 1960 in Middletown, New York. Romm is an author, lecturer, and scientist, who has concentrated on problems related to global warming, energy efficiency, green energy technologies and green transportation technologies. Romm is "one of the world’s leading experts on clean energy, advanced vehicles, energy security, and greenhouse gas mitigation."[1] Romm's father, Al Romm, was an editor, including of the Times Herald-Record newspaper from the 1950s into the 1980s.[2] His mother, Ethel Grodzins Romm, is an author and a retired engineer and technology company executive.[3]
Romm holds B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from M.I.T.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Current and recent projects
Romm is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress[4] and maintains their climate blog.[5] He is also the executive director and founder of the non-profit Center for Energy and Climate Solutions, an organization based in Washington DC that helps businesses and U.S. States adopt high-leverage strategies for saving energy and cutting pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Romm is also a principal of the Capital E Group[6], which consults on technology assessment and sustainable design services for stationary fuel cells and other clean energy technologies.[7] He lectures frequently on energy technology and global warming.[8]
Romm's new book on global warming, Hell and High Water, claims that humans have a window of opportunity of only about a decade to head off the most catastrophic effects of global warming and calls upon Americans to demand government action to require the use of emission-cutting technologies that are available now.[9] Romm was interviewed on Fox News on January 31, 2007[10] and on March 12, 2007[11] about the book, the new IPCC Fourth Assessment Report on climate change, and global warming politics and solutions.
Romm is interviewed, and gives a presentation, in the 2006 documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car?, directed by Chris Paine and narrated by Martin Sheen.
[edit] Service at the U.S. Department of Energy
Romm served as Acting Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, in charge of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during 1997 and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary from 1995 though 1998. At the Department of Energy, Romm helped manage the largest program in the world for helping businesses develop and use advanced clean energy and distributed generation technologies to cut costs, increase reliability, and reduce pollution.[12]
The program was aimed at the industrial, utility, transportation, and buildings sectors. The program was the lead federal agency for developing technologies such as PEM fuel cells, microturbines, advanced cogeneration, superconductivity, building controls, photovoltaics and other renewables, biofuels, and hydrogen production and storage. Romm was in charge of technology analysis for the Office. Romm initiated, supervised, and publicized a comprehensive technical analysis by five national laboratories of the energy technologies best able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively, nicknamed "The Five Lab Study", formally entitled Scenarios of U.S. Carbon Reductions.[13]
[edit] Earlier projects
Romm has taught at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He also worked at the Rockefeller Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Institute. Romm was the principal investigator for the National Science Foundation project, Future Directions for Hydrogen Energy Research and Education. He also performed the first environmental analysis of a system integrating cogenerating fuel cells, fly wheels, and power electronics aimed at achieving very high-availability power.[14]
[edit] Publications
In addition to his 2006 book, Hell and High Water, discussed above, Romm has published a number of books on energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions and pollution with green technologies, including The Hype about Hydrogen, Cool Companies: How the Best Businesses Boost Profits and Productivity by Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions (the first book to benchmark corporate best practices for using advanced energy technologies, including fuel cells, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), Lean and Clean Management, and The Once and Future Superpower, and other topics. He also wrote the National Commission on Energy Policy's report, "The Car and Fuel of the Future," (July 2004)[15]. He also wrote the 1994 Rocky Mountain Institute Report: Greening the Building and the Bottom Line: Increasing Productivity Through Energy-Efficient Design.[16]
Romm's book on global warming, published December 26, 2006 (William Morrow & Co), is called Hell and High Water: Global Warming — the Solution and the Politics — and What We Should Do.[17] Romm also maintains a blog on global warming and related topics.[18]
Romm has written and lectured widely on distributed energy, clean technologies, business and environment issues and global warming, including articles in Technology Review, Issues in Science and Technology, Forbes, Foreign Affairs[19], The New York Times, the L.A. Times, Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, Science (journal)[20], Businessweek,[21] and Scientific American. He co-authored, with Charles Curtis, "MidEast Oil Forever," the cover story of the April 1996 issue of the Atlantic Monthly that predicted higher oil prices within a decade and discussed alternative energy strategies.
Romm and Prof. Andrew A. Frank co-authored an article, "Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction", published in the April 2006 issue of Scientific American, in which they argue that hybrid cars that can be plugged into the electric grid (Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) will soon become standard in the automobile industry.[22]
[edit] Quote
"Global warming is going to transform this country and our transportation and the way we live our lives. If we don't act pretty soon, in an intelligent fashion, then change will be forced upon us by the radically changed climate... global warming is the issue of the century...." [23]
[edit] Notes
- ^ From Romm's profile at The Foundation for Nuclear Studies
- ^ Al Romm obituary
- ^ SeeE.G. Romm's books in print and Article on tech company
- ^ Romm bio at www.americanprogress.org
- ^ Romm's climate blog
- ^ Capital E Group website
- ^ Romm profile
- ^ [1] [2] Articles on Romm lectures
- ^ See Publisher webpage, and Review of the book.
- ^ Romm's January 31, 2007 Fox News segment is accessible here. See also Romm radio interview accessible here.
- ^ YouTube clip of Romm on Fox News, March 12, 2007
- ^ Romm profile
- ^ Romm bio
- ^ Romm bio
- ^ The Car and Fuel of the Future
- ^ http://www.greenbiz.com/toolbox/reports_third.cfm?LinkAdvID=8527 Link to report.
- ^ Publisher webpage
- ^ Romm's climate blog
- ^ Energy efficiency article in Foreign Affairs
- ^ Article in Science magazine
- ^ Article in Businessweek
- ^ "Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction"
- ^ Quote from interview
[edit] Books by Romm
- Romm, Joseph (2006). Hell and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and What We Should Do. New York: William Morrow. (ISBN 0-06117-212-X).
- Romm, Joseph (2004). The Hype about Hydrogen, Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate. New York: Island Press. (ISBN 1-55963-703-X). An updated edition was published in 2005 (ISBN 1-55963-704-8). The book has also been translated into German as Der Wasserstoff-boom.
- Romm, Joseph (1999). Cool Companies: How the Best Businesses Boost Profits and Productivity by Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions. New York: Island Press. (ISBN 1-55963-709-9).
- Romm, Joseph (1994). Lean and Clean Management: How to Boost Profits and Productivity by Reducing Pollution. New York: Kodansha Amer Inc. (ISBN 1-56836-037-1).
- Romm, Joseph (1993). Defining National Security: The Nonmilitary Aspects. Washington: Council on Foreign Relations. (ISBN 0-87609-135-4).
- Romm, Joseph (1992). The Once and Future Superpower: How to Restore America's Economic, Energy, and Environmental Security. New York: William Morrow & Co. (ISBN 0-688-11868-2).
[edit] References
- Biography of Romm and list of publications
- Profile of Romm from The Nuclear Foundation
- Profile of Romm from Romm's energy efficiency consulting website
- Profile of Romm at Cleanhouston.org
[edit] External links
- January 16, 2007 television interview with Romm about global warming
- Transcript of radio discussion on August 3, 2006 on global warming, featuring Romm
- Businessweek online article by Romm on Katrina and global warming
- Romm's January 25, 2007 piece in Salon.com about global warming and what Congress should do
- January 16, 2007 article by Romm critical of Bush administration policies on global warming
- Article in Technology Review in the March/April 2007 article, praising Romm's analysis of hybrid vehicles and global warming
- Interview Transcript of interview on Earth and Sky Radio Series
- Romm on Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
- Article in Houston Business Journal December 29, 2006
- Op ed piece Miami Herald May 25, 2006
- Op ed piece Billings Gazette July 20, 2006
- Radio Interview on This Week in Science April 26, 2005 broadcast
- California Cars Initiative article
- Transcript of Romm's testimony before Congressional Committee
- Climate blog of the Center for American Progress Action Fund edited by Romm
Categories: 1960 births | Living people | Politics and technology | American environmentalists | Climate change | People from Orange County, New York | People from Washington, D.C. | Energy conservationists | Sustainability advocates | American non-fiction writers | American science writers | Jewish American writers | New York writers | Washington, D.C. writers | Jewish American scientists | Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
