Robert J. Klee

Robert J. Klee
Industry Positions Lecturer, Yale School of the Environment Managing Director of Clean Energy Programming, Yale Center for Business and the Environment
Degree Programs Yale School of the Environment, Ph.D., 2005 Yale Law School, J.D., 2004 Yale School of the Environment, Master of Environmental Management, 1999
Affiliations Financing and Deploying Clean Energy Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Rob Klee is a Lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment.  He holds a Ph.D. from Yale School of the Environment in industrial ecology, a law degree from Yale, and an undergraduate degree from Princeton in geology and environmental science.

Dr. Klee most recently served as the Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), from January 2014 until January 2019, for former Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy.  DEEP is the state agency charged with conserving, improving and protecting the state’s natural resources and environment; providing first-rate outdoor recreation opportunities; and integrating energy and environmental policies to build a sustainable and prosperous 21st-century economy for Connecticut.  Dr. Klee originally joined DEEP in April 2011 as chief of staff to then-Commissioner Daniel C. Esty. 

Prior to his state service, Dr. Klee was an attorney with Wiggin and Dana LLP, in New Haven, where he specialized in appellate and complex litigation, and energy and environmental law.  He also served as a law clerk for both the U.S. District Court in Connecticut and the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Dr. Klee and his wife Anne live in Woodbridge, Connecticut, and have two sons, Alex and Jacob.

Authored Articles
Greta Thunberg at New York City climate strike

Climate activist Greta Thunberg at New York City's Climate Strike in September 2019. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez.)

Part V: Building the Low-Carbon Future

Robert J. Klee
The policies explored in this series, taken together and adopted at national scale, would allow the United States to do its part in limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Can it be done? The final installment of “Look to the States” concludes with an outlook and some tools — drawing once...
Rooftop solar installers in CO

Workers install rooftop solar panels at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Research Support Facility in Golden, CO in 2013 / U.S. Department of Energy

Part III: A Modernized, Efficient and Equitable Electric Grid

Robert J. Klee
States across the country have led efforts to revamp the electric grid: modernizing century-old systems, promoting energy efficiency, and investing in distributed energy generation that replaces central grids. Through smart investment and incentives, the federal government has the ability to usher in this new energy future nationwide, and ensure that...
Block Island Wind Farm

Block Island Wind Farm / Chris Bentley / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Part II: Setting Climate Targets and Creating Tools to Achieve Them

Robert J. Klee
For years, red and blue states across the country have been building the policy architecture for ambitious national climate action. Part II of "Searching for a New Deal on Climate" explores how the federal government can follow the states’ lead on setting economy-wide greenhouse gas targets, establishing renewable energy requirements...
Brayton Point

Demolition of Brayton Point, the last coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts, in April 2019. The location will serve as a site for future offshore wind development. (Dave Souza/The Herald News of Fall River via AP)

Part I: Searching for a New Deal on Climate? Look to the States

Robert J. Klee
Is there a version of decarbonization somewhere out there that is aggressive enough to meet the bar set by the scientists, yet pragmatic enough to work politically and as a matter of law and policy? Yes, there is. We should look no further than the blue and red states that...