Washington, D.C. — The Center for American Progress announced today that Alan Yu is joining the Energy and Environment Policy team as a senior fellow and director of international climate policy. At CAP, Yu will help to promote clean energy policies and work to strengthen U.S. partnerships with the international community to address climate change.
Yu comes to CAP after spending four years as the U.S. Department of Energy’s director for Asian affairs. In that post, he worked with the department’s senior leadership, technical offices, and national labs to coordinate a unified strategy on U.S. energy policy and technical engagement with countries in East, Southeast, and South Asia.
“Alan makes a great addition to our team,” said Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president for Energy and Environment Policy at CAP. “With his extensive background on international energy policy issues, he can help us develop strategies to increase climate action around the world to address the existential threat of climate change.”
Prior to his work at the Department of Energy, Yu served for 25 years as a foreign service officer with the Department of State, with stints in Washington, China, Japan, and Afghanistan. He worked on a wide range of regional and foreign policy matters, with a focus on East Asia and international environmental issues. Before joining the Department of State, Yu was a middle school teacher in the Central African Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer.
“I’m excited to be at an organization that is committed to addressing climate change and driving creative solutions on climate and clean energy,” Yu said. “I was troubled by the Trump administration’s approach on climate change, including its abdication of international leadership on this issue. I also fear the erosion of U.S. leadership on clean energy will hurt the country’s ability to compete in the global economy. I’m looking forward to helping get us back on track.”
Yu received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley.
For more information, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202-478-6327.