Phil Barnett '79, minority staff director for the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, will present a public talk at the Woodrow Wilson School titled, "The Politics of Climate Legislation: Failed Attempts and the Prospect for Future Legislation," on Wednesday, April 4, 2012, at 4:30 p.m., in Bowl 016, Robertson Hall. The discussion is part of the School's "Energy and Environment" thematic lecture series.

Barnett has had a long and distinguished career in public service.  His work has contributed to the enactment of major environmental legislation, including the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, and he played a leading role in House passage in 2009 comprehensive energy and climate-change legislation, known as the Waxman-Markey bill.   In addition, he worked to enact the landmark Affordable Care Act of 2010; the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009; the comprehensive overhaul of the Postal Service in 2006; and multiple reforms to federal procurement laws.

Barnett is also one of the most experienced investigators on Capitol Hill and has led congressional oversight into the tobacco industry; steroid use in baseball; pharmaceutical pricing; food and drug safety; contract abuses in Iraq; and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In addition to his current position with the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose ranking minority member is Congressman Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Barnett has also served as chief counsel (1997-2007) and staff director (2004-2009) for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In 1996, he was director of policy research for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and in 1995 served as Congressman Waxman’s counsel in his congressional office.  In addition, he has served as counsel to the House Commerce Subcommittee on Health and Environment (1989-1994) and the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials (1988-1989).

Prior to his work on Capitol Hill, Barnett was staff attorney to the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund from 1985 to 1988 and served as law clerk to Judge William C. Canby, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1983-1984).  He received his A.B. from Princeton University in 1979 and his J.D. from Harvard University in 1983.

The event will be archived online for later viewing on the Woodrow Wilson School’s Webmedia site – http://wws.princeton.edu/webmedia.

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