From government to academia.
(Washington, DC) – It seems the Biden Department of Energy (DOE) had an Office of Energy Justice and Equity. Who knew? It also seems that being the director of that office can lead to cozy sinecure at the University of Michigan. Similarly, being a deputy secretary at DOE can get you a prime spot at Columbia University. Just ask Shalanda Baker and David Turk, respectively.
According to communication records obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI), Baker received an email in March 2024 from Susan Fancy, Associate Director at the University of Michigan’s Global CO2 Initiative, which focuses on carbon capture, requesting “further support from DOE for clean energy and carbon management-related community engagement research …” Fancy also wanted “DOE investment in multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder research and conversations” about “social justice” and “energy justice.” If that was forthcoming, “Numerous experts in communities and academia are ready to help address these issues,” with Fancy claiming that “their efforts will have substantial social, technical, and financial paybacks.”
Unfortunately, FOIA did not reveal a direct response to her impassioned plea, which concluded, “I’m grateful for your efforts to be sure that climate imperialism does not take hold.” However, Baker seems to have been helpful regardless. Fancy’s executive assistant later sent her an email the next month looking to set up a time for a phone call to discuss the “VPSCA position.” Baker is now fighting climate imperialism from her new position as the university’s first ever Vice Provost for Sustainability and Climate.
Turk’s entry to Columbia was similarly fortuitous. He had previously established communications with Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, around the same time Columbia University was vying for part of a $68 million grant from the DOE’s Office of Science for AI research, announced on February 13, 2024. The grant was officially awarded on September 5, 2024. However, FOIA records reveal though that their relationship began months before this and at times, transcended mere emails.
On July 24, 2024, having learned of Columbia’s work in the field of energy use by AI, Turk had emailed Bordoff:
“we’re doing a ton of work in this space, including on projections of increased electricity demand from data centers / AI over the next several years, how this data center / AI electricity demand fits into what’s going on more broadly with electricity supply/demand, and how to channel dynamics in the most helpful way possible for national security, economic prosperity and clean energy goals . . . We’d be eager and happy to learn more about all that you and your team are up to.”
After the award, the two remained friendly, with apparent calls and in-person meetings in September and October. When Turk officially left the government in January 2025, he turned up as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the same Center on Global Energy Policy as Bordoff.
It seems the Biden DOE was quite a springboard for political appointees to land in academia.
Roderick Law, spokesman for FGI, issued the following statement:
“FGI and others have documented the ever-spinning revolving door between the Biden administration’s climate and environment focused agencies and offices and outside special interest activist groups. It appears there was also a door to elite academia. It never hurts for job seekers to have access to grant money and government research. Call it an attractive value-add.”
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