The Department
of Defense has named Joseph Bryan its Senior Advisor on
Climate,
joining several other
agencies
with this new position.
Joe Bryan, formally appointed as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy during the Obama administration starting in 2014, coming from the U.S. Senate where he was a military issues staffer. He started his career in energy and mining policy, with jobs in South Africa and Namibia, after earning a masters in energy and environmental policy from the University of Delaware.
After leaving the Obama administration, Bryan joined the Atlantic Council as a senior fellow and founded Muswell Orange, LLC, a one-man clean-energy consultancy. In recent years he wrote numerous pieces and offered testimony on climate change, clean energy, and the military.
In one piece he wrote: “Mitigating the worst impacts of climate change ultimately depends on significant reductions in global carbon emissions. The United States should rejoin the international community and recommit to aggressive cuts in CO2.”
He has also emphasized the strategic issue of the minerals supply chain for batteries and other renewable-energy technology.
Additionally, climate hawk Andy Oare was named the director of digital media for the Department of Defense. During the Obama administration, he was part of the digital media and outreach team for the Department of Energy.
Bryan’s biographical details:
Joseph M. Bryan was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy in November 2014. Mr. Bryan served as the Secretariat focal point on all matters pertaining to the Department of Navy’s energy initiatives.
Mr. Bryan joined the Department of the Navy from the United States Senate where he served in several professional staff roles. Most recently, Mr. Bryan was the Investigations Team Lead for the Committee on Armed Services. During his tenure, the committee completed investigations into cyber intrusions affecting U.S. Transportation Command contractors, U.S. costs and allied contributions to support the U.S. military presence overseas, the presence of counterfeit electronic parts in the military supply chain, the use of private security contractors in Afghanistan, and the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.
From 2005 to January 2007, Mr. Bryan served on the Select Committee on Intelligence, where he advised Senator Carl Levin on legal, policy, and programmatic issues affecting the U.S. Intelligence Community. He also represented Senator Levin in legislative negotiations and investigations into pre-Iraq war intelligence.
From 2001 to April 2005, he was responsible for legislative issues related to Senate Judiciary and Governmental Affairs Committees, including judicial nominations, criminal justice, legal reform, and federal employees.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Bryan worked at the University of Cape Town’s Energy and Development Research Center, Cape Town, South Africa. In this position, he coordinated research and briefings for Chairman of the South African Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy on the development and regulation of domestic energy industries. He also advised Namibian Ministry of Minerals and Energy on the development of a white paper to guide development of national energy policy.
Mr. Bryan earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1991 from Fordham University and a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs and Public Policy, with a focus on energy and environmental policy from the University of Delaware.