Deborah Gordon

Biography

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.

Research

Serving as lead researcher on the continued development of the Oil Climate Index (OCI), a first-of-its-kind analytic tool to assess and compare the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas supply chain

Researching global opportunities to reduce climate impacts in the petroleum sector and writing a book titled No Standard Oil (forthcoming in 2020, Oxford University Press)

Applying the OCI to develop government, industry, and NGO strategies to reduce the climate impacts from the petroleum sector

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

Publications

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

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

Global Carbon Intensity of Crude Oil Production, (with M. Masnadi, et. al.), In Science, August 2018

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)

News|Recent News

Methane Will Continue to Accelerate Climate Change

November 6, 2019

A new report co-authored by Deborah Gordon underscores the need to more accurately map, measure, and manage methane.

Saudi Arabia’s oil troubles don’t rattle the U.S. as they used to (Deborah Gordon comments)

September 20, 2019 Washington Post

Deborah Gordon comments in the Washington Post, "We are locked in without knowing how locked in we are, which really does make it a crisis."

Oil Shake-Up: Refining Transitions in a Low-Carbon Economy

August 27, 2019

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon co-authors study on why it is critical to assess how shifting to a low-carbon economy will impact oil refining.

A worker cleans up oil on a beach in California following an oil spill

Spill draws attention to steam-based oil extraction (comments by Deborah Gordon)

July 30, 2019 KCET

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon comments on the frequent oil spills in California, saying "It’s like turning oil from the consistency of peanut butter into the consistency of honey."

U.S. Refining Industry Reckons with Uncertain Energy Future (comments by Deborah Gordon)

May 6, 2019 Chemical Engineering Online

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon comments on the future of petroleum refining, saying "Although the future energy supply mix is not expected to resemble the past, we are still going to need sulfur for many chemical products, asphalt and jet fuel, which are not easily replaced by non-fossil-fuel alternatives."

Are oil majors serious about cutting emissions? (comments by Deborah Gordon)

March 28, 2019 E&E News

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon comments on efforts to curb methane emissions from major oil and gas companies. "It is a really important problem, and we're just starting to get a handle on what it is and how to fix it."

Senior Fellow Awarded Grant for Oil Climate Index

March 11, 2019

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon was recently awarded a $35,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to conduct outreach on the OCI’s decision-making potential.

People