The world’s leading environmental organizations guide the development and implementation of Cooler’s carbon calculator, as well as the selection of clean energy and pollution prevention projects in which funds are invested. Cooler’s Technical Advisory Committee, consisting of technical experts representing these key environmental groups, sets strict guidelines for the projects we invest in to reduce global warming pollution.
Dr. Dan Lashof, Natural Resources Defense Council
Dan Lashof is the science director and deputy director of NRDC's climate center. He is active in the areas of national energy policy, climate science and solutions to global warming. Dan is involved in developing federal legislation to place enforceable limits on carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants and to reduce America's dangerous dependence on oil. He has followed international climate negotiations since their inception and is a lead author of the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the role of land-use change and forestry in exacerbating or mitigating global warming. Dan has testified many times before Congress about energy policy and global warming. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Harvard University and a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. He has taught environmental science as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and is the author of numerous articles on climate change science and policy.
Dr. Bill Chameides, Environmental Defense & Dean,
The Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences,
Duke University
Bill Chameides is the chief scientist at Environmental Defense, an organization dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people, including the right to clean air, clean water, healthy food and flourishing ecosystems. Environmental Defense works to create practical solutions, based on science, that win lasting economic and social support because they are nonpartisan, cost-effective and fair. Prior to joining ED, Bill was Regents Professor and Smithgall Chair, Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Kurt Zwally, National Wildlife Federation
Kurt Zwally has specialized in clean energy technologies and climate change mitigation since 1996. He provides expertise for the National Wildlife Federation’s activities on global warming solutions – working at the federal and state levels, and with the private sector. Kurt has a Masters Degree in public policy from George Mason University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in a combination of economic and political science from the University of Massachusetts. Prior to joining NWF he worked in the private sector with a firm that specializes helping companies understand their financial risk in a carbon-constrained world, and those interested in investing in mitigation projects. He also served in various positions in the U.S. Department of Energy including most recently as Deputy Director of International Programs in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Michael Schlup, The Gold Standard
Michael Schlup is the Director of the Gold Standard, a methodology and label for premium quality carbon credits. Michael is responsible for maintaining the high credibility of the brand by managing the Gold Standard supporters – 43 NGOs globally – and its Technical Advisory Committee, which oversees the technical aspects. He also works with both developers and buyers to build capacity and market the advantages of the Gold Standard.
Previous to his engagement at the Gold Standard, Michael worked at the UN Environment Programme’s Collaborating Center BASE on issues regarding financing sustainable energy. In this role, he analyzed and supported the financial structuring of sustainable energy projects and helped UNEP in designing financing mechanisms for the sector. Michael also has experience as a consultant advising companies in the steel, cement and utility sector on carbon, energy and broader environmental management issues and successfully built-up a company selling sustainability communication services and carbon offsets to organizations and individuals, which was eventually sold to a consortium of consultants and a major utility in Switzerland.
Michael holds a degree in Geography and a M.Sc. in Environmental Management and Policy from Lund University in Sweden. He is also a certified social auditor. Michael is a Swiss citizen and based in Switzerland.