16th Annual RFS, RINs & Biofuels Forum
September 23-25, 2024
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel | Chicago
Vice President of Federal Advocacy
Read BioChief Operating Officer of Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures
Read BioPartner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Read BioVice President of Renewable Natural Gas at Anew Climate
Read BioVice President of Downstream Policy at the American Petroleum Institute
Read BioSenior Vice President of Government Relations & Policy at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers' (AFPM)
Read BioManager, Decarbonization for Phillips 66
Read BioSenior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Growth Energy
Read BioPresident and Chief Executive Officer of PetroCard Inc.
Read BioSenior Principal at Bracewell
Read BioChief Operating Officer of Bosselman Enterprises
Read BioPresident, Lipow Oil Associates
Read BioPresident at Csonka Aviation Consultancy LLC & Executive Director, CAAFI (Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative)
Read BioAssociate, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Read Bio
Rob Walther joined POET, LLC in June 2013 and currently serves as Vice President of Federal Advocacy.
Walther represents POET to highlight the value of domestic, renewable biofuels in talks with members of Congress, their staffs and federal agencies regulating renewable fuels.
Walther provides close counsel and perspective to numerous elected officials, NGOs and trade associations in and outside of Washington. He is regularly cited by and provides background to multiple media outlets.
Previously, Walther held several energy-related policy positions in Washington, D.C. including Deputy Director for Energy at Third Way, a D.C. organization dedicated to promoting moderate policies; professional staff for the Committee on Science and Technology in the U.S. House of Representatives; and associate at the firm Wexler & Walker, PPA.
Walther’s policy expertise includes the Renewable Fuel Standard and biofuels, oil and gas production, gasoline prices and the power sector.
Walther holds a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and a BA in History from Dartmouth College.
Anthony Gregory serves as Chief Operating Officer for Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures, an investment fund that is scaling production of low emissions jet fuel, and SAFFiRE Renewables, a company enabling efficient production of 2G ethanol for SAF. Anthony previously led commercialization and infrastructure development as Vice President at Cruise, GM’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, and served as Vice President of Ground Operations at Southwest Airlines across 120+ airports in North America. He earned his B.S. degree from Purdue University, and M.B.A. and Masters in Economics degrees at West Virginia University.
David McCullough is a partner in the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. For the past 15 years, he has been a leading lawyer in the production and trade of renewable fuels and the implementation of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and state low carbon fuel standards.
He represents clients on a range of transactions driven by the ongoing transition to a low-carbon economy, including the development and acquisition of renewable natural gas facilities, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel refineries, advanced recycling facilities, hydrogen production facilities, carbon capture projects and reforestation projects. For each of the past three years, he has been recognized as having a leading practice in the area of climate change law by Chambers and Partners.
Kirsten Higgins joined Anew Climate in 2021 and is the Vice President of Renewable Natural Gas with a focus on environmental commodity transaction structuring, origination, and voluntary markets. Prior to joining Anew Climate, Kirsten worked in the Integrated Supply & Trading division of BP, holding various roles including Commodity & Market Risk Manager for crude and asset-based portfolios and Commercial Development Director for environmental products. Her experience spans originating and implementing biomethane deals across various markets, evaluating market risk in trading portfolios, and managing diverse teams. She holds a BBA in Information Technology Management from the University of Notre Dame, summa cum laude, with a minor in Energy Studies.
Will Hupman is Vice President of Downstream Policy at the American Petroleum Institute. His responsibilities include managing the development and implementation of policies in the fuels, marketing, refining, and downstream heath, environment, and safety sectors.
Prior to his role at API, Will led federal government affairs efforts for The Sherwin-Williams Company. He also previously served as Senior Director of Federal Relations at API where he advanced the association’s policy positions and developed advocacy strategies. Before joining API, Will worked as a Legislative Director and Counsel on Capitol Hill for two Members of Congress. Will received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University.
Geoff Moody serves as the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers’ (AFPM) Senior Vice President of Government Relations & Policy. Geoff leads AFPM’s federal and state advocacy on issues impacting the refining and petrochemical industries, including fuels, environmental regulation, trade, transportation and infrastructure, chemicals management, and tax policy. Geoff started his career on Capitol Hill and has spent more than 15 years working in various policy and energy and environmental advocacy roles. He holds his law degree from the George Mason University School of Law.
Piotr Wozniak is manager, decarbonization for Phillips 66, a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. He is responsible for optimizing the carbon intensity of Phillips 66’s renewable fuels.
He has 15 years of experience in the energy industry. Previously, Piotr was director, Emerging Energy Strategy. Past roles also include working in corporate strategy, corporate finance, and various roles within the global commercial supply & trading organization.
Piotr graduated from London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics.
Chris Bliley serves as Growth Energy’s Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Chris handles all federal regulatory matters covering fuel, vehicle emission and air quality standards, food safety, as well as transportation and logistics. His responsibilities also include state fuel quality and labeling matters. Prior to joining Growth Energy in 2011, Chris was a Director at the Nussle Group, a Washington, D.C. based consulting firm. He served as the Associate Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency running the agency’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations from 2007 until 2009 under President George W. Bush. Bliley was also Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Congressman Jim Nussle. Prior to joining Nussle’s staff, Chris was Director of Government Relations for the Smokeless Tobacco Council, a Washington-based trade association. Chris is a graduate of the University of Virginia and lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Allison and their two daughters.
Laura Yellig brings diverse perspectives from over 30 years of leadership in the petroleum industry. As President and Chief Executive Officer of PetroCard Inc., Laura has led the company through transformational change and growth, establishing a platform and vision for the future of commercial fuels.
Under Laura’s leadership, PetroCard has executed a targeted acquisition strategy to grow its commercial cardlock portfolio and provide unmatched access to the future of fuels for commercial and municipal fleets. Before PetroCard, Laura enjoyed 18 years in operations and sales leadership roles for Shell Oil and six years as Vice President of Alaska Petroleum Distribution for Crowley Maritime. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Rice University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Operations Management and Logistics) from New Mexico State University.
PetroCard Inc, is the largest operator of commercial cardlocks in the Northwest and the region’s premier provider of commercial fleet fuel, lubricant and bulk fuel management solutions. As a leader in commercial and municipal fleet fueling, PetroCard is uniquely positioned to lead fleet customers to the future of fuels and provide “now solutions” for greenhouse gas reduction in transportation activities.
Tim Urban leads the Bracewell tax policy practice out of the firm’s Washington, DC-based Policy Resolution Group. He is an experienced tax lobbyist who has advocated for clients on every major tax bill introduced in Congress over the past 20 years. Drawing on his work on the House Ways and Means tax-writing committee and two decades at a “Big Four” accounting firm’s tax policy group, Tim represents companies on business tax issues, extension of temporary tax provisions, and federal tax policies affecting the energy sector. Regarding federal energy tax policy, he has represented and advised companies on tax policy issues affecting conventional energy companies, such as the 45Q credit for carbon capture and storage (CCS); production credits for hydrogen and for electricity produced from renewable resources (including solar, wind, and hydropower); investment incentives for purchases of renewable energy plant property (hydrogen storage, energy storage, and biogas equipment, for example), and production and blending tax credits for clean fuels including biodiesel, renewable diesel, cellulosic ethanol, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), renewable natural gas, and methanol.
Mr. Randy L. Gard has over 30 years of executive leadership and management experience, with a background in Business Management from Waldorf College in Forest City, IA. His career includes key roles in various industries. He spent 18 years with Eaton Corporation in the Automotive Components Group and served as Director of Operations for Stuart Entertainment in the gaming industry. At Vermeer Manufacturing Co. in Pella, IA, he held the position of Vice President of Global Planning and Business Development. Mr. Gard also led Chief Automotive Technologies in Grand Island, NE, as President and CEO, during which the company was part of Dover Corporation (DOV), a Fortune 500 company.
Currently, Mr. Gard is the COO of Bosselman Enterprises and serves on the board of the organization. He is a member of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the American Coalition for Ethanol Board, and the governmental affairs team for the National Association of Truck Stop Owners (NATSO). In addition to his corporate roles, he is actively involved in state and federal governmental affairs, particularly in the ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, and EV markets. He has championed legislative bills focusing on renewable fuel incentives for retailers.
Andrew Lipow is the President of Lipow Oil Associates, a consulting firm which he founded in May 2004. Lipow Oil Associates specializes in both the oil markets and renewable fuels industries. He provides expertise in crude oil and petroleum product trading opportunities and provides insight into the RFS, RINs, and LCFS programs. Mr. Lipow gained refining and trading experience during his career at Vitol, Basis Petroleum, J. Aron and Amoco and has provided consulting services to biofuel trade groups. He is a frequent guest on Fox Business News, CNBC and Bloomberg Canada, and has appeared on the nightly newscasts of the major networks. He is frequently cited by industry trade publications as well as The Wall Street Journal and Reuters for comments regarding recent news events.
Steve is a commercial aviation professional with 38 years of broad, strategic airline, aviation OEM, and SAF experience. Over his career, Steve has been a strong industry advocate who has worked in roles of developing pragmatic solutions to the challenges of aviation growth, and such engagement led him to accepting the current CAAFI Executive Director role in 2012. CAAFI (the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, www.caafi.org) is an industry partnership fostering the development and commercialization of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). CAAFI engages in public-private-partnership activities designed to convene the group of participants needed to stand up an entirely new industrial sector.
Steve also continues to serve in leadership, steering committee, consultancy, and BOD roles with multiple aviation industry organizations in areas of applying technology and business concepts to enable commercial progression with SAF, both through the work of CAAFI, as well as independent activities through his consultancy.
Steve Brenner is an associate in the Environmental practice section of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP’s Washington, D.C. Office. His practice focuses on complex environmental litigation matters along with regulatory and compliance counseling.
The Renewable Fuel Standard is a cornerstone of Steve’s law practice. Steve has worked on multiple appellate litigation matters, concerning EPA’s implementation of the RFS. Steve also advises on enforcement matters relating to EPA’s administration of the RFS.
Prior to Pillsbury, Steve worked as a legislative staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives, advising on energy, environmental, and transportation issues.