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Jennifer Danis

Federal Energy Policy Director

Jennifer Danis brings significant experience in environmental and energy law to the Institute for Policy Integrity. Most recently, Ms. Danis litigated energy infrastructure issues, with a focus on conflicts between state PUCs and FERC, as part of Niskanen’s litigation team.  Prior to that, Ms. Danis was Senior Fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, having previously worked as an attorney and clinical instructor for Columbia Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic. In that capacity, she advocated on behalf of the Clinic’s clients for sustainable energy choices in the region, developing and implementing novel legal theories to prevent the proliferation of gas pipeline infrastructure. She also has significant experience working with a broad range of national energy advocates and experts to help document skewed natural gas market economics, the economics of deep decarbonization, barriers to expediting electric transmission, and ecological, health and safety impacts from fossil fuel infrastructure. 

Ms. Danis has testified on these issues before congressional committees and helped nonprofit clients advance legislation to directly address these conflicts. She also served as the Senior Staff Attorney for Eastern Environmental Law Center’s Energy Infrastructure program. Prior to her energy work at EELC, she was of counsel to Bradley M. Campbell, LLC, where she used legal and scientific tools to address toxic contaminants under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Working as an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ms. Danis researched complex litigation strategies to address legacy pollution of regional waterways, and successfully advocated for the preservation of 600 acres of wetlands in the Hackensack Meadowlands. Her interest in environmental law started while clerking in the United States Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, in the Indian Resources Section, working on conflicts related to water compacts, as well as issues related to the Cherokee constitutional crisis. Ms. Danis began her legal career as a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis in New York, where she worked on various commercial litigation matters, including intellectual property, securities fraud and contractual disputes. She is an alumna of University of Pennsylvania and Boston University. 

She can be reached at [email protected]

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