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Anne Steckel |
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Larry Schafer |
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Manning Feraci |
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Sandra Franco |
The coalition says adding these seasoned experts will further bolster the renewable natural gas industry’s presence on Capitol Hill and amplify its voice as America’s cellulosic biofuel under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.
“The growth to our team and to our presence in Washington, D.C reflects the arrival of renewable natural gas as a substantial renewable fuel and sustainable energy industry in the U.S.,” Marcus Gillette, RNG Coalition director of public affairs, says.
Manning Feraci joins the RNG Coalition as director of federal government affairs. He brings more than 20 years of experience navigating a myriad of tax, energy, trade and agriculture issues through the federal legislative and regulatory process. He has an extensive background in biofuels policy and previously led the federal affairs operation for the Solar Energy Industries Association. Feraci served more than a decade on Capitol Hill as a legislative director and chief of staff for a member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.
Anne Steckel joins the RNG Coalition as director of federal legislative affairs. She has more than 20 years of Washington experience working on legislative, regulatory, advocacy, policy and political issues on and off Capitol Hill. Most recently, she was the vice president of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board. She previously held senior government relations positions with the American Farm Bureau Federation and Growth Energy and was a chief of staff for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Larry Schafer joins the RNG Coalition as director of federal policy. He is one of the nation’s preeminent experts on federal biofuels policy and has extensive experience providing clients and trade associations with guidance on technical, legislative and regulatory matters relating to renewable fuels, energy, agriculture, tax and trade. He previously served as vice president of federal affairs for the Renewable Fuels Association and vice president of legal, tax and accounting policy with the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. Schafer also served as legislative counsel to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sandra Franco joins the RNG Coalition as director of federal regulatory affairs. She has advised clients on administrative, regulatory and litigation matters under several federal environmental laws, including numerous U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and federal agency rule making proceedings. She has worked on Renewable Fuel Standard matters since the program’s inception, including successfully defending full implementation of the RFS before the D.C. Circuit. She was director of regulatory affairs and general counsel for the National Biodiesel Board and spent time as a partner at a major international law firm.
“Manning, Anne, Sandra and Larry are highly respected experts in our field. Their addition exponentially increases the potential of what we can accomplish in our nation’s capital,” Johannes Escudero, RNG Coalition CEO and executive director, says. “Excellence in relationship building, educating policy makers and legislative and regulatory advocacy will advance renewable natural gas. It will further enable our industry to develop more projects and employ more people across the country.”
One such developer of numerous renewable natural gas projects across the U.S. is Aria Energy, Novi, Michigan.
“Over the last six years the renewable natural gas industry has grown at an exponential rate,” Jay Hopper, Aria Energy’s vice president of development, says. “To support the growth, we have come to expect we need this kind of representation in D.C. to promote our mission.”
Industry stakeholders and RNG Coalition members will have the opportunity to meet the new team members at the RNG 2017 Conference Nov. 27-30 in Dana Point, California.
The RNG Coalition was founded in 2011 and represents the renewable natural gas industry in North America, including companies that produce or otherwise support production and distribution of biogas-derived renewable natural gas.