Ana Unruh Cohen

Ana Unruh Cohen is the Senior Director of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) team at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). In this position she plays a critical role in approving energy projects. Growing up in Texas, memories of Deepwater Horizon and how the oil spill impacted local communities continue to shape her decision making today: “I try to think of those neighborhoods and those friends as we are balancing sometimes challenging questions about infrastructure expansion,” she told Politico in July. That same month, the White House proposed changes to NEPA to help speed up the permitting process for energy projects. Prior to her role at CEQ, Unruh Cohen worked as the staff director for the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, whose work formed the foundation of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that has since unleashed a wave of investment in clean energy.

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