The Hill

By Ben Geman –

The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR), a left-leaning group that has battled a number of President Obama’s regulatory decisions, has lured a senior staffer away from the Center for American Progress (CAP) to be its next executive director.

CPR on Tuesday announced the hiring of Jake Caldwell, who is joining the group after serving as director of policy for agriculture, trade and energy at CAP, a major liberal think tank.

“Jake brings a wealth of experience to CPR with the environmental and regulatory issues that are the core of our work, and knows how to make scholarship influential in the political and policymaking process,” said CPR President Rena Steinzor, a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Law.

CPR notes that Caldwell, in his half-dozen years at CAP, focused on climate change regulation, green energy, conservation and other matters. He also served on President Obama’s transition team. 

Here’s a bit more on Caldwell from the CPR announcement:

From November 2008 to January 2009, Caldwell served as a member of President Obama’s Transition Team, in the Energy and Natural Resources Section of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agency Review. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, teaching a course on International Environmental Law and Trade. Caldwell has also worked with the Clinton Global Initiative’s Global Poverty Working Group and the National Wildlife Federation, among others.

CPR is a network of law professors and other academics that focuses on environmental, health and safety regulation.

“CPR is a vital institution and powerful force for strengthening the link between the academic and policymaking worlds on the issues that matter most to all Americans,” Caldwell said in a statement.

“Our Member Scholars are the very best in their fields, with a substantive knowledge of the issues that’s rivaled only by their passion for protecting health, safety and the environment. I’m looking forward to helping them inject their ideas into the policy process, and to helping CPR build on its hard-earned reputation for solid research and analysis,” he said.

The group formed in 2002, during the George W. Bush administration, and has sought to pull back the curtain on what it considers pro-industry decisions and methods in the inner workings of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The group issued a report in November alleging that OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has eagerly lent an ear to industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute and the American Chemistry Council over the last decade, and weakened agency regulations.

While CPR and other green groups did frequent battle with the Bush administration, CPR hasn’t been shy about attacking Obama administration regulatory policy either, including the decision to scuttle tougher EPA smog standards.

Caldwell is replacing Shana Jones, who is heading to Old Dominion University to teach environmental policy