Melissa Hoffer | |
---|---|
First Climate Chief of Massachusetts | |
Assumed office April 2023 | |
Governor | Maura Healey |
Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency | |
In office January 20,2021 –April 2022 | |
President | Joe Biden |
Acting General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency | |
In office January 20,2021 –November 2021 | |
President | Joe Biden |
First Chief of the Massachusetts Energy and Environment Bureau | |
In office 2015–2021 | |
Head of the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Division | |
In office 2012–2015 | |
Vice President of the Conservation Law Foundation | |
In office 2007–2012 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Pennsylvania,USA |
Education | Hampshire College (BA) University of Massachusetts (M.Ed) Northeastern University (JD) |
Occupation | Environmental lawyer |
Melissa A. Hoffer is an American environmental lawyer currently serving as the Climate Chief of Massachusetts,the first to hold a seat of this kind in the country. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Hoffer previously worked in the Attorney General of Massachusetts' office,the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF),and WilmerHale. [6] [7] She was a "day one" appointee to President Joe Biden's cabinet as Principal Deputy General Counsel and Acting General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency. [4] [8] [7] [9] As a lawyer,she headed cases including Boumediene v. Bush [10] (related to the Algerian Six) [11] and Commonwealth v. Exxon Mobil Corp. [12] She believes in a "whole-of-government approach" to climate change and that environmental issues should not be isolated to a single government department. [13]
A native of southeastern Pennsylvania,Hoffer holds a BA from Hampshire College,an M.Ed from University of Massachusetts,a JD from Northeastern University School of Law (1998),and a certificate in environmental management from Tufts University. [14] [15] [7]
Hoffer taught high school social studies in San Francisco before going into environmental law. [8] [14] She was with the Boston firm WilmerHale [6] [7] from 1999 to 2007,where she was promoted to junior partner in 2003.[ citation needed ] While there,she led the pro bono team,recruited by the Center for Constitutional Rights,that represented the Algerian Six,a group of Algerian-Bosnian men who had been kidnapped by US officials and kept at Guantanamo Bay. [11] [16] [7] They had been detained and undergone torture there since January 2002 without being charged with any crimes,which Hoffer and her team argued was in violation of habeas corpus . [7] This violation was not uncommon in detainee cases during the War on Terror. [17] She and her team travelled to Guantanamo to interview their clients [18] [19] and she was one of several contributors to a book about Guantanamo attorneys,wherein she discussed the torture endured by one of her clients. In October 2008,in Boumediene v. Bush ,the US Supreme Court ruled that habeas and other protections of the US Constitution applied to detainees at Guantanamo and other foreign nationals. [20] The judge ruled that five of the Algerian Six were being held illegally and ordered their release. [21] [22] The sixth prisoner,Bensayah Belkacem,later had his case appealed and was freed in 2010. [23]
After leaving WilmerHale in 2007,[ citation needed ] Hoffer worked as the Vice President of the Conservation Law Foundation,where she became the director of the Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice program,as well as the CLF New Hampshire Advocacy Center. [7] [16] [6] She also started the Sustainable Farm &Food System and the Transportation for Massachusetts initiatives and raised awareness about the pollution caused by coal-fired power plants [16] like Brayton Point Power Station. [24]
Hoffer was a law clerk for Magistrate Joyce London Alexander in Boston. [7] She then moved to the Attorney General of Massachusetts office in 2012 as the head and the chief attorney of the Environmental Protection Division. [7] [4] [16] [25] In this role,she led the litigation against ExxonMobil for not adequately informing investors and residents in Massachusetts of the true impact of fossil fuels on the climate. [7] [4] In 2013,Hoffer taught environmental law and human rights at Hampshire College,her alma mater. [16] In 2015,she became the first head of the new Energy and Environment Bureau under Attorney General Maura Healey. [7] Hoffer was a "day one appointee" into President Joe Biden's cabinet. She was Acting General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from January 20,2021 through November 2021 and Principal Deputy General Counsel from January 20,2021 through April 2023. [4] [8] [7] [26]
Hoffer was tapped by governor-elect Maura Healey to become Massachusetts' Climate Chief,the first role of its kind in the United States,and moved into the role in April 2023. [5] [4] The same month,she launched the Youth Climate Council,a group of high school students who she would meet with on a regular basis to discuss environmental issues. [27] One of her first actions as Chief was to establish the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank,the United States' first green bank "dedicated to affordable housing." [7]
In October,she published a report with 39 recommendations for what the state can do to lower its environmental footprint and to be better equipped to fulfill the goals of the existing Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050,which aims to have the state be fully net zero. [28] [29] Among her recommendations were building more clean energy,preparing for extreme weather,and axing all carbon emissions by 2050. [29] Among her more specific recommendations are Massport reducing the number of short haul flights;decarbonizing new public school construction;developing a Climate Service Corp to train "young people for jobs in clean energy and climate resilience;" and introducing a Comprehensive Coastal Resilience Plan to follow as climate change increasingly impacts coastal areas. Additionally,she calls for a restructuring of the Mass Save program,a utilities program currently overseen by utilities providers. She recommends adding additional administrators to the project to support cost savings rather than to entirely replace the providers. [30]
In her spare time,Hoffer raises Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats on her farm in Barre. [7] [16]
Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi is a Sudanese militant and paymaster for al-Qaeda. Qosi was held from January 2002 in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps,in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 54.
Seth Paul Waxman is an American lawyer who served as the 41st Solicitor General of the United States from 1997 to 2001. He is the co-chairman of the appellate and Supreme Court litigation practice group at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. As of 2022,he has appeared before the Supreme Court more than 80 times.
Fouzi Khalid Abdullah Al Odah is a Kuwaiti citizen formerly held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps,in Cuba. He had been detained without charge in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. He was a plaintiff in the ongoing case,Al Odah v. United States,which challenged his detention,along with that of fellow detainees. The case was widely acknowledged to be one of the most significant to be heard by the Supreme Court in the current term. The US Department of Defense reports that he was born in 1977,in Kuwait City,Kuwait.
Abdullah Kamel Abdullah Kamel Al Kandari is a citizen of Kuwait,who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps,in Cuba.
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is an environmental advocacy organization based in New England,United States. Since 1966,CLF's mission has been to advocate for New England's environment and its communities. CLF's advocacy work takes place across five integrated program areas:Clean Energy &Climate Change,Clean Air &Water,Healthy Oceans,People &Justice,and Healthy Communities. CLF's mission statement is to "use the law,science,and the market to create solutions that preserve natural resources,build healthy communities,and sustain a vibrant economy." CLF focuses on promoting renewable energy and fight air and water pollution;building sustainable fishing communities and protect marine habitat;promoting public transit and defend public health;achieving environmental justice;and sustaining a vibrant,equitable economy.
The Algerian Six were six Algerian men,who gained citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War,five of whom will continue to hold a dual Algerian and Bosnian citizenship,and who were imprisoned without charges at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay,Cuba from January 2002.
Abdul Zahir is a citizen of Afghanistan,who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps,in Cuba. He was the tenth captive,and the first Afghan,to face charges before the first Presidentially authorized Guantanamo military commissions. After the US Supreme Court ruled that the President lacked the constitutional authority to set up military commissions,the United States Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006. He was not charged under that system.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP,also known as Hale &Dorr and WilmerHale,is an American multinational law firm with offices in the United States,Europe,and Asia. Co-headquartered in Washington,D.C.,and Boston,it was formed in 2004 through the merger of the Boston-based firm Hale and Dorr and the D.C.-based,firm Wilmer Cutler &Pickering. It employs more than 1,000 attorneys worldwide.
Abdel Hamid Ibn Abdussalem Ibn Mifta Al Ghazzawi is a citizen of Libya who was held from June 2002 until March 2010 in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps,in Cuba because the United States classified him as an enemy combatant. His internment number was 654.
The Center for Constitutional Rights has coordinated efforts by American lawyers to handle the habeas corpus,and other legal appeals,of several hundred of the Guantanamo detainees.
Boumediene v. Bush,553 U.S. 723 (2008),was a writ of habeas corpus petition made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene,a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina,held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba. Guantánamo Bay is not formally part of the United States,and under the terms of the 1903 lease between the United States and Cuba,Cuba retained ultimate sovereignty over the territory,while the United States exercises complete jurisdiction and control. The case was consolidated with habeas petition Al Odah v. United States. It challenged the legality of Boumediene's detention at the United States Naval Station military base in Guantanamo Bay,Cuba as well as the constitutionality of the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Oral arguments on the combined cases were heard by the Supreme Court on December 5,2007.
Stephen Abraham is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Army Reserve. In June 2007,he became the first officer who had served on a Combatant Status Review Tribunal to publicly criticize its operations. He said the evidence provided did not meet legal standard,and the members of the panels were strongly pressured by superiors to find that detainees should be classified as enemy combatants. Abraham served in the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants.
Al Odah v. United States is a court case filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsels challenging the legality of the continued detention as enemy combatants of Guantanamo detainees. It was consolidated with Boumediene v. Bush (2008),which is the lead name of the decision.
Kristine Huskey is an American lawyer. Huskey is notable because she volunteered to help defend Guantanamo detainees. Huskey is the author of "Standards and Procedures for Classifying "Enemy Combatants":Congress,What Have You Done?"
Lakhdar Boumediene is an Algerian-born citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina who was held in military custody in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba beginning in January 2002.
There have been mixed reports of the limits on Guantanamo detainees' mail privileges.
Andrea J. Prasow is an American attorney and global human rights advocate. She leads The Freedom Initiative,a U.S.-based organization whose mission is "to bring international attention to the plight of political prisoners in the Middle East and advocate for their release." Prasow was appointed as The Freedom Initiative's executive director in November 2021.
Maura Tracy Healey is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,she served as Massachusetts Attorney General from 2015 to 2023 and was elected governor in 2022,defeating the Republican nominee,former state representative Geoff Diehl.
Kate R. Cook is an American lawyer and government official serving as the chief of staff for the Massachusetts governor's office since January 2023.