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Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
The Future of LNG Trade: Inflexible, Inefficient, and Polarized?
This Energy Explained post represents the research and views of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Center on Global Energy Policy. The piece...
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Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
The Nexus of Climate Policy and National Security
As President Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan laid out a strategy for what he called a “foreign policy for the middle class.” Using the metaphor of a...
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April 29, 2025
• 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
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Stabilizing Your Career in a Rapidly Changing Industry
Please join the Women in Energy initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA for a public roundtable featuring Claire Steichen, Founder of Clear Strategy Coaching. The fast-evolving energy...
Event
• Online
Dave Turk
CGEP Distinguished Visiting Fellow; Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
Biography
Dave Turk has served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from March 2021 to January 2025. As Deputy Secretary, Turk served as the number two official and Chief Operating Officer of a $50 billion per year organization focused on all things energy, basic science, and nuclear security. Turk has taken a leading role in implementing President Biden’s historic clean energy legislation, including coordinating with the White House, interagency partners, companies, investors, NGOs, and other key stakeholders. With Secretary Granholm, he has orchestrated a major reorganization of the Department to create and staff new offices to demonstrate and deploy clean energy technologies. Turk has also focused on early-stage innovation, including the launch of a series of Energy Earthshots. Turk led U.S. delegations to various G7, G20, IEA, IAEA, and climate conferences, and coordinated bilaterally with dozens of countries in the Western Hemisphere, Africa, Asia, Europe, and from around the world.
Prior to his nomination as Deputy Secretary, Turk was the Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, where he focused on helping countries around the world to make progress on their clean energy transitions. Turk coordinated with all 31 IEA Member countries; various other country Partners; and a wide variety of companies, investors, and NGOs. He also helped lead various analytical efforts, including Digitalization and Energy, the Future of Hydrogen, and Tracking Clean Energy Progress.
In the Obama-Biden Administration, Turk served for a first time in the Department of Energy, including spearheading the launch of Mission Innovation – a global effort to enhance clean energy innovation. Turk has also been a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at the U.S. National Security Council, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change at the State Department, and a Staff Director of the National Security Subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee.
Turk was born in Quito, Ecuador, and raised in Rock Falls, Illinois. He is a graduate of both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Virginia Law School. He and his wife, Emily Turk, have three children.