In early 2009 Mr. Burmeister turned down two Obama Administration political appointments in Washington, DC to instead help the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) implement the local, state and tribal government energy efficiency- and renewable energy-related provisions of the Stimulus Bill, aka the American Reinvestment and Recover Act (ARRA). He is respected on both sides of the aisle, having served as a senior political appointee for U.S. President Bill Clinton between 1993 and 1996, and later serving as Communications Director of the Congressionally- created State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB) for the Bush Administration between 2002 and 2004. STEAB provides energy budget guidance to the Administration and Congress.
In 2005, Mr. Burmeister wrote and helped pass his 100th major energy efficiency and/or renewable energy initiative at the local or state government level since 1988—a green building resolution for the City of Commerce, California. Mr. Burmeister has testified or been asked to speak formally about the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy in more than 37 states.
California’s major investor-owned utilities hired Mr. Burmeister between 1999 and 2007 to serve as informal energy staff to more than 120 of the busiest and fastest-growing local governments in California. In addition to helping them with green building and new residential construction issues, he advised these local governments and others on energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy security and critical infrastructure protection (CIP) issues. He continues to advise many of these governments.
In 2007-8, he wrote Energy Assurance Guidelines for Local Governments for the Public Technology Institute (PTI), and established Zero Energy Home (ZEH) subdivisions in Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico, and Zero Carbon Communities (ZCCs) in the Los Angeles area.
In 2007-8, he served as Executive Director of an exciting, new San Francisco-based 501(c) (3), a national organization, the Public Sustainability Partnership (PSP)—established to provide local and state government sustainable development services—especially climate-change related services—to local and state governments and the utilities that serve them.
After his political appointment in the Clinton Administration and prior to leaving Washington, Mr. Burmeister served as Policy Director of the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and Executive Director of Americans for Clean Energy (aka "the Solar Lobby") in Washington before returning home to Colorado in 1999. He helped manage the Energy Program at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) for three years before that, worked for U.S. Senator Timothy E. Wirth (D, CO), was State Political Director for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club, and he worked in private sector sales for a West German firm for seven years before that, working out of Breckenridge, Colorado.
He
has a BA in Environmental Studies with a Minor in Business
Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas (1981),
and a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of
Colorado (1989). He was voted Outstanding Masters Student by the
faculty in 1989, and was one of only two students in his graduate
program to Graduate with Distinction (Honors).
