Speakers

Luke joined the Washington State Department of Ecology as the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) Implementation Manager in July 2021.  As the CCA Implementation Manager, he is responsible for leading the design, implementation, and operation of the state’s Cap-and-Invest Program.  Washington’s Cap-and-Invest Program is only the second economy-wide emission trading system in the United States and will help reduce Washington’s emissions 95% by 2050. 

He previously served as Director and Chief Counsel in the Vermont Office of Legislative Counsel.  In that role, he served as the lead attorney on legislation concerning renewable energy and climate change while also managing the Legislature’s legal staff, operations and administrative support staff, and IT unit.

His earlier career experience includes serving as an Assistant Counsel to the Governor of New York and working at the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.  Before that he served as a Section Chief in the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau of the New York State Attorney General, as well as working at the New York County District Attorney’s Office

Christopher Thomas joined the SLCgreen team in November 2019. 

He previously worked with the Sierra Club, HEAL Utah, the energy efficiency firm ETC Group, Salt Lake County, and more. He holds a B.A. in English and Biology from Grinnell College and a Master’s Degree in Information Systems from the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business.

Claire joined the Washington Department of Ecology in December 2021. She leads the outreach, education, and policy relations efforts on behalf of the Climate Commitment Act Implementation Group. Claire serves as one of the primary program liaisons for businesses and individuals participating in the cap-and-invest program established by the CCA and works directly with a wide range of organizations and communities to increase public and private sector awareness around this powerful program.

Gareth Lifton is a Managing Director and the KPMG lead for Decarbonization and Resilience for state  and local government organizations. He has significant and wide-ranging experience in decarbonization  and climate resilience, and over 35 years of sustainability-related experience working and developing  best practices for government clients throughout North America and internationally, at the state and  local government level. He has worked across organizations to create innovative programs and has been  highly effective at leading large-scale projects and transformations. He has worked across all aspects of  sustainability including the development and implementation of policies, strategies, business plans,  business case evaluations, capital program development and delivery.

George Jackson is Vice President of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences.

He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary “The Dawn of Generation AI.”

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia