Staff

Heather Reams is the President of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) Forum, a right-of center non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that engages policymakers and the public about responsible, conservative solutions to address our nation’s energy, economic, and environmental security while increasing America’s competitive edge. She has led the CRES team since 2016 and oversees the core activities of the organization, ensuring the successful expansion of conservative clean energy policies across the nation.

Heather has been Chair of National Clean Energy Week since 2017. She is a Western Caucus Foundation advisory board member and serves on the board of directors for the American Conservative Coalition. She is a frequent commentator on the politics and policy of clean energy and the environment having been featured on MSNBC, NPR, and Newsmax TV, and in The Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Politico, Newsweek, Time, Roll Call, The Hill, Morning Consult, and The Atlantic, among others. She is a regular contributor to Real Clear Energy.

Heather has nearly three decades of experience in public affairs and advocacy and has held a number of senior nonprofit positions. Prior to her non-profit work, she spent a decade at several top D.C.-based public affairs firms. She started her career as a staffer in the offices of Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) and Congressman Gerald Weller (R-IL11), and earlier as an intern for Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) while pursuing her degree. A graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in Political Science, Heather is active in Republican local and state affairs in her home state of Virginia, where she resides with her husband, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, and their two school-aged children.

Amy Farrell is Senior Vice President of government and public affairs at Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) where she is responsible for translating mission into action and helping President and Board shape the overall strategy for the organization. Amy guides CRES policy direction and advocacy, overseeing all program delivery and leading communications, government relations, research, and policy development.

Amy is recognized in Washington DC and nationally as an energy and regulatory policy expert, strategist, and influential advocate. She has spent her entire career working at the intersection of government and energy industry development – she knows how government policy gets made and how to influence it; and she understands how government policy can impact the energy development landscape, industry bottom lines, and ultimately consumer pocketbooks.

Having held positions in the White House Economic Council, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she has guided the development of energy and environmental policy at the highest levels of government. Amy marries this experience with a successful career building and managing advocacy teams and leading energy industry efforts to shape government policy and public perception to enable energy deployment.

Most recently, she was senior vice president of government and public affairs for American Clean Power (formerly the American Wind Energy Association), leading and overseeing the research, policy, regulatory, legislative and public affairs functions. Upon arriving at AWEA, Amy led an effort to establish Board-level priorities and a multi-year strategic plan and made organizational and investment changes, elevating the industry’s advocacy capabilities to better meet the needs of the maturing wind industry. She broke down silos and led the organizations’ crosscutting advocacy efforts during a period a growth in industry influence and deployment and delivered multiple state, federal and regional industry-priority policy wins.

Prior to AWEA, Amy led efforts of the U.S. natural gas industry to boost demand by influencing electricity market design and LNG export policy, first as Vice President for Market Development at America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) and later as Senior Director for Market Development at the American Petroleum Institute (API), following the merger of the two organizations. Her focus on market development came about when ANGA’s CEO tapped Amy to redefine the organization’s mission, establish consensus industry goals, develop a strategic advocacy plan and direct the functional group leading the effort. Prior to that, Amy was Vice President for Regulatory Affairs at ANGA, and led policy development and regulatory advocacy to ensure companies could develop natural gas resources. Amy’s first position in the private sector was at ExxonMobil where she worked as a corporate issues advisor on their government and public affairs team.

Amy has a Bachelor of Arts from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Charles Hernick is the Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) in Washington DC. Charles leads CRES Forum’s policy work and executes strategies to advance clean energy solutions and innovative approaches to reducing carbon emissions.

Charles is an energy expert who understands emerging clean technologies, market barriers, and policies and regulations. For over a decade he has worked at the crossroads of economic development, energy, and natural resource management across the U.S. and on the ground in over a dozen countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Before joining CRES, he advised executive-level decision-makers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Agency for International Development on energy and environmental issues, and identified project-level opportunities for clean energy expansion.

He is also a climate change expert who has integrated climate change considerations into U.S. government programs and policies and has authored climate mitigation and adaptation best practice guidelines for over a dozen development sectors.

Charles was the Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District in the November 2016 election. He routinely advises candidates seeking public office on energy and economic growth.

He is a frequent guest on radio shows and webcasts, in university classrooms, and at international workshops to discuss clean energy and associated economic, national security, and environmental issues. He conducts interviews in English or Spanish.

Charles as an M.A. in International Relations and Environmental Policy from Boston University and a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Minnesota.

Shawn Affolter is Vice President of Government Relations at CRES. From 2018 to 2021, he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Senate Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy. In that role, he was the agency’s principal liaison to the U.S. Senate and provided strategic advice to Departmental leadership on Congressional matters, including the Energy Act of 2020 and National Defense Authorization Act.

Since 2011, Shawn worked for U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R-ND). In this capacity, Shawn helped advance key energy priorities including infrastructure policies, public-private research partnerships, advanced energy technology initiatives, and federal permitting reform. His work primary focused on the Senate Energy and Appropriations Committees, where he helped manage oversight and budget hearings, legislative mark-ups, agency nominations, and funding requests.

Mr. Affolter is a native of North Dakota and graduate of North Dakota State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and political science.

For more than twenty years Ross has helped transformative science and technology organizations communicate more powerfully, personally, and meaningfully. The majority of his career has been in the private sector, leading messaging, branding, strategy development, and public relations programs for some of the world’s most innovative Fortune 500 companies, startups, nonprofits, R&D institutions, and regulatory agencies.

Most recently he served at the White House as the Director of Strategic Communications for the Office of Science and Technology Policy, then as Senior Tech Policy Advisor to the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and as a Senior Advisor for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget.

A native of Illinois, before moving to Washington DC Ross lived in San Francisco for over a decade, managing consultant teams as a Vice President for OgilvyPR, a top ten global public relations agency. After Ogilvy, he cofounded Torch Communications, a boutique public relations firm serving technology, advanced energy, and life science clients. At Torch he led the startup portfolio, advising tech founders and venture investors on PR initiatives and crisis communications strategy.

Christine (Chrissy) Harbin joins CRES as the Vice President of External Affairs. Christine advances policy priorities by cultivating strategic partnerships on and off Capitol Hill in previous her role at the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF).

Prior to joining ICCF, she managed stakeholder engagement for the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) as Acting Senior Vice President for External Engagement and Acting Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives for EXIM’s Program on China and Transformational Exports. Previously, she held similar responsibilities at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental and External Affairs.

Previous to her administration experience, Christine led the federal policy engagement and coalition efforts of Americans For Prosperity, a nationwide grassroots organization, as Vice President of External Affairs. Before then, she held economic policy roles at the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Missouri-based think tank, and the White House National Economic Council during the George W. Bush administration. She holds bachelor’s degrees in economics, mathematics, and French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium.

Evan is the Communications Director of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES). With experience in strategic thinking and creative communication, he is focused on promoting the organization and helping expand awareness of conservative clean energy policies across the nation.

He previously served as a press secretary and digital director for U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who was the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee along with the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. As the press secretary, Evan helped develop a press strategy and organized messaging, videos, graphics, and digital campaigns for major legislative accomplishments including the Opioid Crisis Response Act, Music Modernization Act, the FUTURE Act, and the Great American Outdoors Act.

While in the U.S. Senate, Evan was elected by his peers to serve as president and an executive officer of the U.S. Senate Press Secretaries Association (SPSA).

Before his time in the U.S. Senate, Evan worked as a booking producer for Chuck Todd, moderator of Meet the Press, MTP Daily and NBC News’ political director. In that role he arranged a wide variety of interviews with lawmakers, journalists and newsmakers. Evan also worked in NBC News’ Washington Bureau as the weekend White House producer and the White House travel pool producer—traveling with President Obama to report for all major television news networks.

In 2012, Evan served as Deputy Communications Director for then U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson’s (R-N.M.) campaign for U.S. Senate in New Mexico. He grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and graduated from Texas Tech University, where he studied journalism and business administration.

Ewelina comes to CRES Forum from the American Action Forum, a center right think tank, where she was the Director of Energy Policy and considered free market energy and climate policy solutions. Prior to AAF, Ewelina worked for more than 5 years at Arbo, where she advised clients on regulatory issues that arise throughout the planning, siting and operation of energy infrastructure projects. She earned a JD from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, as well as a BS in Geological Sciences, and a BA in Philosophy with a concentration in Public Affairs, from George Washington University.

John Nagle serves as the Government Relations Manager at CRES. In that role, he supports all aspects of CRES’s lobbying efforts to advance free market clean energy policy solutions. Prior to his time at CRES, he worked as a major gift officer at Stand Together. In that role, he connected business and foundation leaders with opportunities to make a difference in the policy, education, and philanthropic spaces. John is a native of Southern California and graduate of American University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science.

CRES Forum Policy Fellow

Marty Hall is the Minority Staff Director for the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. He joined the select committee shortly after it was created in 2019. Hall is also the chief strategic advisor and lead staff for the Republican leadership task force on Energy, Climate, and Conservation.

Prior to his joining the committee, he was Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff at Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies. As a member of the senior executive team, Hall was active in formulating, planning, and implementing the Business Roundtable agenda.

Before Business Roundtable, Hall was a vice president at FirstEnergy, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utility companies. He joined the company in 2009 after leaving the White House at the end of the Bush Administration. During his tenure, he managed several corporate groups, including the environmental department; energy policy; advanced technologies group; and federal affairs. He served on a year-long special assignment as co-lead of the merger integration group tasked with developing integration plans for a multi-billion-dollar merger. The integration group was comprised of twelve teams and over five hundred employees.

Previously, Hall served in senior positions in both the White House and United States Senate. A top energy and environmental advisor to President George W. Bush, he was Chief of Staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Prior to the White House, Hall was Majority Deputy Staff Director for the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Hall began his professional career in the private sector working for a joint venture focusing on mergers and acquisitions.

Hall is a graduate of Northwestern University where he played football for the Wildcats.

Senior Advisor

Board

With more than thirty years experience in finance and energy, Mr. King has completed more than $25 billion of equity and debt investments across six continents acting both in a proprietary capacity and for many of the world’s most prominent energy and infrastructure companies. He has provided path-finding leadership in structured debt financings leading to solar energy ABS and was an early investor in and proponent of PACE financing. Mr. King recently launched and serves as President of the Borincana Foundation (www.fundacionborincana.org), an energy infrastructure non-profit and think tank for Puerto Rico. Mr. King is also Managing Partner of CrossRiver Capital and was a Founding Partner of US Renewables Group.

Carla Tully is CEO and Co-Founder of Earthrise Energy, which unlocks the value of existing infrastructure to accelerate the transformation of the US electricity sector. Carla is a 20-year energy executive and business leader who brings the diverse perspectives of a sponsor, lender, operator, developer, and investor to the challenges of decarbonizing the grid. Carla’s previous roles include Executive Vice President of MAP Energy, a private energy investment firm with over $2B under management and President of AES UK & Ireland, with responsibility for 2GW of generating capacity and new business growth, including the introduction of utility-scale energy storage.

Ms. Rorke has been recognized by E&E News, The Hill, and National Journal as an energy policy leader, and serves on the boards of several policy-focused organizations. Ms. Rorke served as a Presidential Management Fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, as well as a Legislative Assistant for former U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC), helping him craft the first Republican-sponsored carbon tax bill.

Ms. Rorke received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina and Master of Public Administration from Columbia
University.