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Gore To Guide Investment Firm's Green Projects
by Heather Greenfield
Al Gore may be able to add some real green behind the green movement. The former vice president is joining the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers as a partner.
Gore will help guide investments in projects aimed at helping to combat global warming as part of the venture capital firm's Greentech initiative. Kleiner Perkins said in a news release Monday that hiring Gore is part of its expansion into investing in clean-tech ventures.
Since coming within one Supreme Court vote of winning the White House in 2000, the Tennessee Democrat has turned his attention to his long-held passion of fighting global warming. Gore, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the issue, while his global warming documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award for 2006.
Kleiner Perkins said the reasoning behind its expansion into green technologies is directly related to urbanization -- the fact that 4 billion people will move from rural to urban areas over the next 50 years. Those people will need clean water, power and transportation.
Gore said his salary from the firm, which he declined to disclose, would be donated to his advocacy group Alliance for Climate Protection.
Gore also serves on Apple's board of directors and is a senior adviser to Google.
John Doerr, a leading partner at Kleiner Perkins and former TechNet leader, will be among those working with Gore on the project. In turn, Doerr will join the advisory board of Generation Investment Management -- the $1 billion investment company Gore started three years ago in London.
Ocean Tomo Hires Former Commerce Official
Former Commerce Department Undersecretary and Chief Privacy Officer Robert Cresanti has a new job helping companies get greater financial value from their patents. He has joined Ocean Tomo, a financial services firm specializing in intellectual property, as managing director.
Cresanti, 42, left the Commerce Department at the end of September when his agency, the Technology Administration, was shut down.
In his new job, Cresanti will be responsible for the firm's market indexes and also will play a key role in the development of Ocean Tomo's affiliate, Intellectual Property Exchange Chicago, as its chief executive.
"Since Robert's top priority as undersecretary was to promote U.S. competitiveness in the global economy, his decision to align his future with a merchant banking firm focused on IP assets reflects the significance of IP in the development and preservation of the nation's economy," said Ocean Tomo President and CEO James Malackowski. "We are absolutely delighted that Robert has chosen to join us."
At Commerce, Cresanti worked closely with the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Cresanti's experience included advising the secretary of Commerce on the impact of changes to patent policy regarding issues of competitiveness and innovation.
Cresanti was the highest official in the U.S. Government to decide on patent disputes between agencies and inventors that were employed by the government.
Cresanti also spent nearly 10 years on Capitol Hill working for financial-related committees. He served as staff director for the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. He also worked for the House and Senate Banking committees and served as staff director of the Subcommittee on Financial Services and Technology for the Senate Banking Committee.
PFF Finds A President
W. Kenneth Ferree is the new president of the Progress & Freedom Foundation. Ferree is the former chief of the FCC's media bureau.
After Ferree left the FCC in 2005, he went to work as executive vice president, chief operating officer and interim CEO at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Before joining the FCC, he worked at various law firms, and most recently led the communications practice group at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton.
"I am thrilled to be taking the reins of PFF," Ferree said. "I look forward to building on the solid reputation of PFF and expanding our reach in areas of technology policy."
PFF describes itself as a market-oriented think tank focused on policy issues related to the "digital revolution."
"With his reputation of championing deregulation and free markets, I believe Ken Ferree is an ideal choice to lead the foundation," said PFF Chairman and co-founder George (Jay) Keyworth. "His invaluable knowledge of communications and media policy will complement the scholarship being performed by PFF Fellows."
McCue Moves Up To Chairman of the Board
The United States Telecom Association has picked a star to head its board. Ron McCue of Silver Star Communications was elected to serve as the group's chairman of the board of directors.
McCue replaces Skip Frantz, chairman of Windstream Communications.
"With the communications industry in a state of transition, USTelecom brings our members together to help them foster new business models and opportunities," McCue said in a statement. "I look forward to serving as chair of USTelecom's board at this exciting time for our industry."
He said broadband service providers must continue to work together through USTelecom to establish a regulatory and legislative environment that rewards infrastructure investment, technology advancement and industry evolution.
Silver Star offers wireline and wireless voice, high-speed Internet, and digital television over broadband services in a mountainous territory in western Wyoming and eastern Idaho. McCue is vice president and chief operating officer. Before being elected to head USTelecom's board, McCue served as its vice president.
Embarq Chairman and CEO Dan Hesse was elected to succeed McCue as vice chairman. Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs at AT&T, will continue in his role as secretary, while Bert Kramer, senior vice president of operations at D&E Communications, will continue to serve as treasurer.
Arne (Skip) Haynes, chairman of Rainier Connect, will be rejoining the USTelecom board later this year.
NANC Adds Numbers To Council
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners can count two new commissioners on the North American Numbering Council. NARUC President Jim Kerr of North Carolina nominated two state commissioners to fill the vacancies on the council.
Kerr picked Commissioner Lorinzo Joyner of the North Carolina Utilities Commission and Commissioner Betty Ann Kane of the District of Columbia Public Service Commission to fill the remaining NARUC vacancies on the council. One of the vacancies was filled in April when Kerr nominated Commissioner Anthony Palermino of Connecticut.
Kane joined the D.C. commission in March 2007, while Joyner joined her state's utilities commission in January 2001.
NANC provides the FCC with advice and recommendations on phone numbering issues.
Quote Of The Week
"We feel it's a huge boost not just for our industry but for momentum for the other [pending] trade deals."
-- Sage Chandler of the Consumer Electronics Association celebrating the House vote in favor of the Peru free trade agreement.
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