Statement on President-elect Biden Naming Susan Rice as Director of the Domestic Policy Council

Washington, D.C. — Today, Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power 2020, issued the following statement on Joe Biden’s decision to appoint Ambassador Susan Rice as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council:

“Susan Rice understands very clearly the threat climate change poses to our economy and our country’s security,” said Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power 2020. “She is vocal about needing to address the climate crisis and describes climate change as a force multiplier for other domestic and international threats like droughts, floods, famine, conflict, and displacement. With Rice at the helm of the White House Domestic Policy Council, President-elect Biden will be ready on Day One to act on his ambitious climate plan to build a clean energy future with millions of good-paying, union jobs.”

Ambassador Rice has long-stressed the urgent need to act on climate, pushing back on those who deny climate science and saying there is no “greater long-term challenge than climate change.” Rice also warned that climate inaction “imperils so many of the other things we hope to achieve.”

Rice served as National Security Advisor and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations for President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017. Previously she served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1997 to 2001. From 1993-1997, she served as Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House and Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping on the National Security Council staff.