Deborah Gordon
Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs
Former Director, Energy and Climate Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Deborah Gordon is the former Director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Trained as a chemical engineer and policy analyst, Gordon works on global oil and climate change issues. After beginning her career with Chevron, Gordon managed an energy and environmental consulting practice, taught at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and directed the Energy Policy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Gordon regularly testifies before Congress, collaborates with government agencies, industry, and NGOs, and has served on National Academy of Sciences committees. Gordon’s op eds, articles, and quotes have appeared in The National Interest, The Hill, Pacific Standard, Financial Times, Scientific American, International Economy Magazine, About Oil, Boao Review, Xinghua News, Huffington Post, Newsweek, Time, Washington Post, and New York Times. She has been featured on ABC News, PBS Great Decisions, NPR’s To the Point, E&E TV's On Point.
Serving as Principal Investigator on the Oil Climate Project, a research initiative aimed at developing new knowledge and indicators using a novel systems approach so that stakeholders can make more strategic and sustainable environmental decisions throughout the petroleum sector
Researching global opportunities to reduce climate impacts in the petroleum sector and expanding the Oil Climate Index Plus Gas (OCI+), a first-of-its-kind analytic tool to assess and compare the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions throughout the oil and gas supply chain
Writing a new book, There Is No Standard Oil, based on extensive research findings from the Oil Climate Project, under contract at Oxford University Press with expected publication in 2021
Collaborating with NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System scientists to assess methane emission impacts from global oil and gas operations
Conducting research on the impacts vehicle electrification will have on the oil transition strategy in order to advance a low-carbon economy
Investigating carbon and methane pricing that fairly assess fees across the oil and gas supply chain
Green Energy for Transport in South Asia: An Approach for a Clean, Sustainable Path, (with Smriti Kumble), Institute for Policy Advocacy and Governance, 2019
Petroleum Companies Need a Credible Climate Plan, (with Stephen Ziman), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 2018
https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Gordon_Petro_Companies_Need_Climate_Plan_Nov2018.pdf
LegalPlanet Blog, Is California Extraordinary? Its Oil Resources Certainly Are, (with Frances Reuland), November 15, 2018
Medium, California’s Dirty Environmental Secret, (with J. Koomey), September 5, 2018
https://medium.com/@dxgordon/californias-dirty-environmental-secret-cd4f77f9afd2
Global Carbon Intensity of Crude Oil Production, (with M. Masnadi, et. al.), In Science, August 2018
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6405/851
Advancing Climate Engineering Disclosure, (with David Livingston), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 2018
Climate-wise Choices in a World of Oil Abundance, In Environmental Research Letters, IOP Science, April 2018, (with A. Brandt, M. Masnadi, J. Englander, and J. Koomey)
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaae76
Independent study courses offered.
Why Are California’s Oil’s Some of the World’s Dirtiest? A Panel with the Oil Climate Index Team,” Stanford University, Bill Lane Center for the American West, April 15, 2019, https://west.stanford.edu/events/why-are-california-s-oils-some-world-s-dirtiest-panel-oil-climate-index-team; Event recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w5tDcNtaNtAgpFOqw8_AnBprNOMTc7k8/view
“Carbon Bubbles and Climate Futures,” America’s Climate Change Future, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, February 1, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slI9z0rxCBA&feature=youtu.be
The Oil Climate Index: Analyzing the Heterogeneous Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Global Oils, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, December 3, 2018, https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/energyconsortium/event/oil-climate-index-analyzing-heterogeneous-lifecycle-greenhouse-gas-impact
Introducing the Oil Climate Index: Applying NASA’s Satellite Data to Fill Gaps in Resource Decision-making, NASA Goddard Carbon Monitoring Systems, September 6, 2018, https://carbon.nasa.gov/policy_speaker_09062018.html
Carnegie Podcast: The Oil Climate Index, November 2018, https://youtu.be/eR0fIv_I4B8
Carnegie Diplopod: The World of Oil, October 2016, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/diplopod/id1161512268?mt=2
September 18, 2020 The Desert Sun
Deborah Gordon offered commentary on California's Midway-Sunset field, where many surface oil spills occur.
September 16, 2020 Governing
In this article, Deborah Gordon said a switch to electric vehicles should not make Houstonians who rely on the petrochemical industry nervous.
September 15, 2020 E&E
In this article, Deborah Gordon offered commentary on the business of the oil industry.
August 27, 2020 Energy Intelligence
Deborah Gordon's research cited in Energy Intelligence, "Natural gas resources have life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions that are just as wide-ranging as oil. In fact, depending on the asset and how it is managed, some of those resources are much worse for the climate than oil."
June 22, 2020 Bloomberg
Deborah Gordon in Bloomberg, "We do know that as oil fields age, they tend to get more carbon intense."
June 2, 2020
In June 2020, Deborah Gordon co-wrote, "Carbon intensity of global crude oil refining and mitigation potential," a study focused on assessing the lifecycle climate impacts of the oil and gas sector and reducing emissions in line with international climate targets.
April 21, 2020 Heated
Deborah Gordon in Heated, "It’s going to take action from the supply side to transform the climate...and sadly, I don’t think what we’re seeing from COVID is oil nations like Saudi Arabia or, frankly, the United States, thinking outside the box when it comes to creating an industry that’s more flexible."