By Howard Schwartz
When I joined the original Washington State Energy Office in
1989, Tony was already a legend in Northwest energy conservation circles. He
had just convinced the Bonneville Power Administration to fund an Energy Ideas
Clearinghouse – a project he had conceived with other Energy Office staff to
provide a one-stop service for commercial energy consumers seeking advice on
how to use electricity more efficiently. Long after he moved on to other
projects and greater responsibilities, the clearinghouse flourished, attracting
funders including the U.S. Department of Energy, becoming national in its
coverage and a core of the Washington State University Energy Program.
Tony came to Olympia in 1985 from the Lawrence Berkeley Lab
in California, the foremost American research institution on energy efficiency.
He was a good fit for the dynamic and innovative Energy Office. Tony had a
passion for energy efficiency and clean energy as well as a sense of how the
office could be a leading edge of environmental policy.
A key to Tony’s success as a leader is that he is
extraordinarily disciplined and organized. To him,
effectiveness comes from organizing your own time, and that means spending as
little time as possible organizing the time of others. Anyone who has worked
with Tony knows that his first principle of managing people is to let them do
their jobs. He always tried to hire people who were the smartest, most
knowledgeable and willing and able to work on their own. These qualities
enabled him to have long runs as the Assistant Director for Energy, Energy
Office Director, and Special Assistant to the Director for Energy and Climate
Policy.
Tony understood early on that climate change would define
energy and environmental policy for the next century. He set out to become a
climate expert even as he managed energy efficiency programs. This climate
policy vision would stay with him throughout his career, and looking back, it
is hard to think of a climate change policy process that did not involve Tony.
Here is a sample: Western Climate Initiative? He was the Washington Energy
Office representative. Pacific Climate Partnership? He led the Washington staff
work for it. Western Interstate Energy Board? He was the Washington member for
20 years and held every executive board position including chair. Washington
state legislation and ballot measures? Tony worked with advocates, other state
agencies, and the governor’s office to marry sound science and policy with
political strategy. National Energy and Climate Policy? For many years Tony was
on the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Energy
Officials. He has given presentations at hundreds of meetings and conferences
around the country and abroad.
You would rarely read in the news media about Tony’s work.
As a colleague noted, “Tony seems to know everybody and yet is almost never the
one getting the attention.” To those who know Tony, this is hardly surprising.
His interest is always in getting the job done, never in taking credit. He is a
classic public servant who understands how to support elected officials and
their political appointees and to earn their trust. For more than 30 years he
has been a trusted source of accurate information and honest advice.
It would be unfair to give Tony all the credit for his
career success, because that would overlook the great support he has received
from Heidi, his wife of forty years – I know how long, because we share our
wedding anniversary dates. In recent years their roles have changed due to
illness, and their relationship through this transition has been an inspiring
example to the rest of us. As in everything else, Tony adjusts to whatever life
hands him and uses his organizational skills to structure his life so what
needs to be done gets done. In some sort of care-giving jujitsu, he uses the
situation to broaden the experiences that both he and Heidi have. And should I
mention that he is also responsible for the care of his mother, who is a
centenarian, living in a residential facility in Olympia?
I could go on at length about Tony’s role in fostering
recreational bicycling in Olympia, playing many kinds of sports, following
professional sports, reading nearly a book a day, keeping up with movies and
classical archaeology (his college major), playing bridge, and making bad puns.
Instead I will just mention that in addition to all of his other attributes, he
has been a great and loyal friend to me and others whom he and Heidi have known
for decades. I know that Tony will be missed in government circles, but I also
know that he will continue to make Olympia and the broader community a better
place to live and work.
Howard Schwartz worked
at the Washington State Energy Office from 1989 until his retirement in 2013.
