GCV Executive Director Appointed to Governor's Energy Council
 

Governor Sonny Perdue announced the appointments to the Governor?s Energy Policy Council at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce First Annual Georgia Environmental Conference. The Governor?s Energy Policy Council will work with the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) to oversee the development of Georgia?s State Energy Strategy. The council will prepare a report that will outline for the Governor the most important near-term and future policy action items identified in the strategy.

The Governor has appointed eighteen individuals to serve as members of the council, and four state officials will serve ex officio. Lee Thomas, retired president and COO of Georgia Pacific, will chair the council. Brief biographies of the Governor?s appointees are below.

Chairman:

• Lee M. Thomas, 62, Atlanta, GA ? Thomas is the retired president and chief operating officer of Georgia Pacific. He serves on the board of directors for Airgas, Inc., Rayonier, Inc., the GEFA, World Resources Institute, Resolve, Inc. and the Alliance for Climate Protection.

Industry Representatives:

• Thomas ?Tommy? N. Bagwell, 61, Cumming, GA ? Bagwell is the owner of American Proteins, Inc. He serves on the board of trustees for Lanier Tech and the Elachee Nature Center.
• Robert H. Demere, Jr., 58, Savannah, GA ? Demere is president of Colonial Group, Inc. He serves as vice chairman of the board of trustees for St. Joseph?s/Candler Hospital, and is on the board of directors for the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum, the Bethesda Endowment and the Savannah Benevolent Association. He is vice president of the Independent Fuel Terminals Owners Association.
• Oscar C. Harper, IV, 41, Peachtree City, GA ? Harper is the vice president of resource planning and nuclear development for Georgia Power, responsible for economic evaluations of demand side programs, forecasting energy load growth and acquiring resources to meet current and future energy needs.
• Michael ?Mike? M. Kumpf, 64, Marietta, GA ? Kumpf serves as the director of state government affairs for BP America, responsible for government and political activities in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. He is a member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute.
• Davis L. Cosey, 54, Perry, GA ? Cosey is the chief executive officer of Davis Oil Company. He served as director of the Georgia Oilmen?s Association and the Southeastern Oil Jobbers Cooperative. Cosey was vice chairman of the E50.01 committee for the American Society of Testing Materials. Cosey is treasurer of the Perry Downtown Development Authority and the director for the Uptown Perry Partnership.
• Gary D. Nichols, 45, Dalton, GA ? Nichols is energy manager for Shaw Industries. He is a registered professional engineer in Georgia and Tennessee. He is a senior member of the Association of Energy Engineers and the Chattanooga Engineer?s Club. He serves on the board of directors for the Associated Valley Industries and is on the PURE Committee for the Georgia Textile Manufacturers Association.
• Carl Seville, 48, Decatur, GA ? Seville is a green builder and consultant for the residential construction industry. He founded and served as vice president of SawHorse, Inc., a design/build firm. Seville received the 2005 Green Building Advocate of the Year award, numerous Environmental Design and Construction Magazine Excellence in Design awards and the 2006 EarthCraft House Leadership Award. He served on the board of directors of the Greater Atlanta Homebuilders Association, and is a contributing editor for Greenbuilder Magazine and HGTVPro.com.
• Suzanne Sitherwood, 46, Marietta, GA ? Sitherwood is senior vice president of Southern operations and president of Atlanta Gas Light, Florida City Gas and Chattanooga Gas. She is a member of Leadership Atlanta?s Class of 2006 and serves as a board member for the Emory Hospital Visiting Committee, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Livable Communities Coalition and Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc.
• Michael C. Whiteside, 64, Newnan, GA ? Whiteside is the president and chief executive officer of the Coweta-Fayette Electric Membership Corporation. He serves as president of Green Power EMC, Relyco Resources, Inc. and EMC Natural Gas. He is on the board of directors for Georgia Transmission Corporation and Peachtree National Bank. Whiteside is chairman of the Georgia EMC Renewables/Energy Committee.

Research Institution Representatives:

• Thomas ?Tom? T. Adams, PhD., 58, Athens, GA ? Adams is the director of the University of Georgia Faculty of Engineering Outreach Service. His research centers on bio and thermo-chemical processes for producing renewable fuels, chemicals and energy from biomass. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• William ?Bill? A. Meffert, P.E., 50, Tucker, GA ? Meffert is the manager of the Energy and Environmental Management Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He helped develop the first energy management system standard entitled ANSI/MSE 2000. Meffert is a member of the Association of Energy Engineers, the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers and the Georgia Energy and Environmental Committee.

Public Interest Group Representatives:

• Daniel ?Dan? J. Raudebaugh, 43, Conyers, GA ? Raudebaugh is the executive director of the Center for Transportation and the Environment, a non-profit organization that develops advanced transportation technologies and clean transportation solutions. He recently provided testimony to the United States Senate regarding how new transportation technologies can help address energy needs in the United States.
• Jason S. Rooks, 36, Atlanta, GA ? Rooks is the executive director of the Georgia Conservation Voters and Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund. He serves as a board member for Hands on Atlanta. Rooks co-founded and directed Avido Systems, Inc. in Silicon Valley.

Legislative Representatives:

• Senator Joseph Carter, 43, Tifton, GA ? Carter is a partner in the law firm Carter and Richbourg, LLP and a Georgia state senator representing Senate District 13. He serves as vice-chairman of the Education and Youth Committee and is a member of the Economic Development, Public Safety and Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees. Carter is an Administration Floor Leader and served as chief deputy whip in 2006. He is a past president of the Tifton Bar Association, a Leadership Tifton participant, and serves on the board of trustees for the Tifton-Tift County Public Association. He was named one of the 25 most influential south Georgians by South Georgia Business Magazine and the 2006 Public Servant of the Year by the Georgia Optometric Association.
• Representative Rich Golick, 39, Smyrna, GA ? Golick serves as southeast regional counsel for Allstate Insurance Company and is a Georgia state representative for the 34th State House District. He serves on the House Insurance, Rules, Appropriations, and Retirement Committees. He serves as senior administration floor leader. Golick is a member of the Vinings Rotary Club, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the South Cobb Arts Alliance.

Local Government Representatives:

• Ron Cross, 65, Evans, GA ? Cross is the chairman of the Columbia County Board of Commissioners and retired president and chief executive officer of CCI Construction Corporation. He serves as chairman of the general government committee of the ACCG and is a member of the citizens? advisory committee of St. John?s Towers Retirement Home.
• Michael ?Mike? G. Fields, 40, Cartersville, GA ? Fields is the mayor of Cartersville. He serves as the district vice president of the Georgia Municipal Association, and was a member of the Association?s Legislative Committee. Fields is a 2004 graduate of Leadership Georgia. He served as president and campaign chairman for United Way.

State Officials Serving Ex Officio:

• Paul Burks ? executive director, Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority
• Carol Couch ? director, Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
• Ken Stewart ? director, Georgia Forestry Commission
• Stan Wise ? chairman, Georgia Public Service Commission

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