Jesse is one of the country's leading energy and climate policy analysts, advocates, and writers.
Jesse is currently the Director of Energy and Climate Policy at the Breakthrough Institute, where he manages the Institute's analytical and policy development programs. Jesse is the lead author or co-author of: the Breakthrough policy framework, "Make Clean Energy Cheap," and the "National Energy Education Act"; the report, Case Studies in American Innovation; and widely cited analysis of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act.
Jesse has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, Yale Environment 360, Forbes.com, Grist.org, and HuffingtonPost.com. His research and analysis has been cited by the Washington Post, Time, the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and other major media outlets. He is founder and chief editor of WattHead - Energy News and Commentary, a featured writer and blogger board member at the Energy Collective, and a contributing editor at ItsGettingHotInHere.org.
Jesse previously co-direct Breakthrough Generation, the Institute's youth leaders initiative, and prior to joining Breakthrough in June 2008, worked at the Renewable Northwest Project to advance the development of the Pacific Northwest's abundant renewable energy potential. While at RNP, he helped pass two statewide renewable energy standards (in WA and OR) and block plans to build 800 MW of new coal plants. In the past, Jesse has worked as a researcher and software developer with the Department of Physics at the University of Oregon, where he focused on alternative vehicles and fuels, and as a teacher's assistant in energy studies courses at the university.
Jesse also has a history of grassroots climate and energy activism and co-founded the Cascade Climate Network, the Northwest's largest network of young leaders working to tackle the climate crisis and build a more sustainable, just, and prosperous future.
Jesse is a graduate of the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon (magna cum laude), where he completed an interdisciplinary course of study in computer science, philosophy, political science & energy studies. In fulfillment of his honors degree, Jesse completed an undergraduate honors thesis entitled, On the Road to Replacing Oil - A Well-to-Wheels Study Exploring Alternative Transportation Fuels and Energy Sources.
Jesse currently lives in Berkeley, California.
Follow Jesse on Twitter: @JesseJenkins.
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