During his time in the Biden-Harris Administration, from 2021 to 2025, Zaidi led on efforts to re-establish U.S. climate leadership, set a national target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent by 2030; deliver robust executive actions, including regulatory, permitting, and procurement-based initiatives; and secure the largest legislative wins on climate in U.S. history, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Together these efforts have advanced the largest annual deployment of solar, wind, and batteries; brought together the U.S. auto sector around an all-electric future; tackled super-pollutants like methane and HFCs; accelerated conservation of and investment in nature; bolstered domestic adaptation and resilience; and centered U.S. climate action around workers and communities, prioritizing good-paying union jobs, a reinvigorated and more competitive industrial base, and the critical work of environmental justice. He also led on critical efforts to advance clean air and clean water – from initiatives to improve local air quality to a comprehensive strategy to remove lead pipes and paint.

In his role as National Climate Advisor, Zaidi also served as a co-chair of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization, and as a member of the National Space Council, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, the White House Task Force on AI Datacenter Infrastructure, the Council on Supply Chain Resilience, and the Infrastructure Implementation Task Force.

Zaidi joined the Biden-Harris Administration after serving as the state of New York’s Deputy Secretary for Energy and Environment and Chairman of Climate Policy and Finance, where he led the state’s efforts on climate change – driving investment into infrastructure and innovation, empowering workers and communities, and boosting economic and environmental resilience – as well as on environmental initiatives to reduce public exposure to local pollution and toxics, accelerate environmental remediation, and bolster clean water supplies.

During the Obama-Biden Administration, Zaidi served as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy, and Science for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and as Deputy Director of Energy Policy for the Domestic Policy Council. At OMB, Zaidi led a 60-person team that was responsible for overseeing a wide array of policy, budget, and management issues across a nearly $100 billion portfolio and a number of federal agencies, including the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency. In this role, Zaidi was part of the delegation that negotiated the Paris climate agreement; developed the White House response to the Flint, Michigan water crisis; and drafted parts of the Administration strategy on topics ranging from Mars exploration to governance of artificial intelligence.

In addition to his government leadership, Zaidi has extensive experience in the non-profit, academic, and private sectors. Zaidi has advised non-profits, including as Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the nation’s largest environmental non-profit organizations; Director of America’s Promise Alliance; and Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute EEP’s Strategy Group on Future of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. Zaidi has taught graduate courses on technology policy and studied the fiscal and financial impacts of climate change as an adjunct professor at Stanford University. During that time, Zaidi also co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, a Stanford-coordinated initiative that equips sustainability-focused startups with pro bono legal services. Zaidi has counseled the private sector, as an attorney who helped launch a sustainable investment practice focused on fund formation, M&A, and governance in the climate and clean energy arena.

Zaidi immigrated from Pakistan and grew up outside Erie, Pennsylvania. He received an A.B. from Harvard University and J.D. from Georgetown University. Read Less ^