Dr. Tony G. Reames returned to the University of Michigan (U-M) School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) after serving as a Presidential Appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration. In June 2021, Dr. Reames took professional leave of absence for public service, to join the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where he served as the Principal Deputy Director for State and Community Energy Programs and DOE’s Deputy Director for Energy Justice. Associate Professor Reames earned tenure in 2022 and rejoins U-M as the Tishman Professor of Environmental Justice at SEAS and the new Director of the SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic, in addition to his roles with the Urban Energy Justice Lab and the Energy Equity Project. In his capacity as the Director of the Clinic, Reames will also serve as a liaison for SEAS with the U-M Center for Innovation in Detroit and will play a crucial role in building connections and collaborations for SEAS and the new center.
For the last two and a half years, Reames has led the development of the DOE’s plan to implement President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to deliver at least 40% of the benefits of Federal climate and energy investments to disadvantaged communities. To accomplish this mission, he established the first-ever Office of Energy Justice Policy & Analysis. Most recently as the Principal Deputy Director for State and Community Energy Programs, Reames was responsible for the deployment of $16 billion in state, local, and tribal government programs to accomplish everything from weatherizing homes to making schools more efficient to local clean energy planning. As more Federal dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act flow to communities across the country, Reames’ experience at DOE will ensure that U-M can support Detroit as it takes advantage of its share and deploys resources in a data-driven, community-led way. Michigan’s new clean energy bills also offer a major opportunity to leverage state and federal resources for equitable and just climate action in Detroit like never before.
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U-M SEAS Press Release: https://seas.umich.edu/news/associate-professor-tony-reames-will-return-seas-after-serving-department-energy
Michigan Chronicle feature: https://michiganchronicle.com/2023/12/28/associate-professor-tony-reames-returns-to-u-m-seas-to-lead-detroit-sustainability-clinic/
urbanenergyjusticelab.com 