Douglas Faulkner

Energy Expert

For two decades Douglas L. Faulkner has been a leader in expanding the global use of renewable energy and energy efficiency.  He is President and Founder of Leatherstocking LLC, a clean-technology advisory firm that draws inspiration and its name from the classic early-American frontier novels by James Fenimore Cooper.  The firm provides advice on global business strategy where politics, diplomacy, trade, technology, finance and science overlap.  Mr. Faulkner offers guidance on sustainable partnerships for business development as well as pathways through federal and state governments for assistance.

Biography

Mr. Faulkner accompanied Virginia Governor McDonnell on his historic trade and investment mission to Sweden in June 2012, inaugurating a new commercial relationship between the Commonwealth and the Kingdom long advocated by Mr. Faulkner.  He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C. chapter.  He served on an informal energy advisory group to the then newly-elected Governor McDonnell.  Mr. Faulkner has been a visiting lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and George Washington University’s Business School.  He helped the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities to create and is now leading a multi-year course on U.S.-Brazil collaboration on biofuels in sub-Saharan Africa.  The web publication, “Biofuels Digest”, carries his column under the moniker, “The Cleantech Conservative”.

In the U.S. government, he served in several senior political assignments for President George W. Bush for the duration of his Administration.  At the Department of Energy, he was named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and, at the Department of Agriculture, served as both Deputy Under Secretary and Acting Under Secretary for the Office of Rural Development.  His stewardship atop both organizations resulted in significant cost savings and better management practices.  He led the negotiating team for the landmark Energy Title of the 2008 Farm Bill, resulting in a billion dollars of new funding and new authorities; co-led the development of the first comprehensive National Biofuels Action Plan; represented Agriculture in building both the U.S.-Brazil Presidential biofuels initiative and the Global BioEnergy Partnership; and, successfully proposed significant new funding for bioenergy and solar energy research and development, which became Presidential initiatives.  The Secretary of Energy, Samuel W. Bodman, honored Mr. Faulkner with his own award for excellence.   He also served as a senior policy advisor to two previous Secretaries of Energy and launched a new bio-based products R&D program.

Mr. Faulkner earned a B.A. from the University of Illinois and a M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies.  As a Rotary Foundation scholar, he attended the University of Singapore.  Born and raised in central Illinois, Mr. Faulkner now lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and son, where he volunteers in his church and community; he serves as a Director of 1st Stage Theater in Tysons Corner, Virginia.  Both he and his son are Eagle Scouts.


Education

MA
The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Rotary international Scholar
Singapore University

BA
University of Illinois

Notable Positions

Senior Advisor to Secretary of Energy

Admiral Watkins

Senior Advisor

Secretary of Energy Abraham

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary & Acting Assistant Secretary

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

DOE

Education

MA
The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Rotary international Scholar
Singapore University

BA
University of Illinois

Notable Positions

Senior Advisor to Secretary of Energy

Admiral Watkins

Senior Advisor

Secretary of Energy Abraham

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary & Acting Assistant Secretary

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

DOE