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U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hailed the appointment of the first full-time International Energy Coordinator at the State Department. 

 

“Constant diplomatic attention to energy security at the highest levels of our government is vital for bolstering U.S. national security,” Lugar said. “Yet because no individual was empowered to take responsibility for forging policy coherence and aligning resources, our diplomatic attention to energy has too often be inconsistent and isolated within broader foreign policy objectives.”

 

“David Goldwyn has been a source of wise counsel on energy security,” Lugar said. “From seeking to build energy bridges in Libya and Turkmenistan, to promoting good governance of oil wealth in Nigeria, and in many other parts of the world, David has worked at the intersection of energy as security, economic and humanitarian concerns. In my judgment, Secretary Clinton’s confidence in David is well-founded, and I commend her prompt attention to this important appointment.”

 

Goldwyn was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and sworn in on August 17, 2009.   Previously, Goldwyn was President of Goldwyn International Strategies LLC, an international energy consulting firm. He served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs (1999-2001) and Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1993-1997), among other positions. Goldwyn also served as chairman of the Global Energy and Environment Initiative at Johns Hopkins University and was a Senior Associate in the Energy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He was an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) “validator,” certified to rate countries on the compliance with the EITI rules.

 

Goldwyn testified on legislation authored by then Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dick Lugar, which established the International Energy Coordinator at a hearing on June 22, 2006. That testimony is available at http://lugar.senate.gov/energy/hearings/pdf/060622/Goldwyn_Testimony.pdf.

 

The International Energy Coordinator position was established into law in December 2007 as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act and based on provisions from Lugar’s Energy Diplomacy and Security Act, which had principle co-sponsorship of then Senator Joe Biden. The bill intended to bolster the State Department's capability to integrate energy security needs into our diplomatic activities. This new position within the Office of the Secretary of State is charged with ensuring energy security is integrated into State Department activities and liaising with other federal agencies. 

 

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, 2009, Secretary Clinton announced the imminent appointment of a high-level International Energy Coordinator at the State Department. The International Energy Coordinator position was established by legislation Lugar first offered in March 2006.

 

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in August 2006, Lugar explained the need for an International Energy Coordinator at the State Department:

 

“It is essential that the State Department have in place a high-ranking official exclusively devoted to energy security and able to speak with your voice at home and abroad. Given the changing political dynamics of energy security worldwide, this official needs to have broad authority to mobilize our government’s bureaucracy to address the political, security, economic, development and environmental challenges posed by energy. The official needs to be empowered to speak with your authority to be an effective coordinator of energy activities between the bureaus of the State Department, and this authority is doubly necessary for the State Department to be a strong voice in the inter-agency coordination of international energy activities and policy formulation. Additionally, this person should have a direct line of communication to your office so that pressing energy security priorities are not lost in the agendas of the already over-stretched Under-Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries.”