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David Arkush

Director, Climate Program


David Arkush is the director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. He is an expert on the climate crisis, financial regulation, regulatory law and policy, and consumer and worker protection. He has broad experience building coalitions and advocating for the public interest, having lobbied extensively before Congress and regulatory agencies and litigated complex cases in the federal courts. He was recently instrumental in developing within the U.S. Climate Action Network a comprehensive, widely supported platform of strong, equitable climate policies, the Vision for Equitable Climate Action.

Before running the Climate Program, David spent five years directing Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, where he led strategic research and advocacy campaigns and played key roles in the passage of laws including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. A TIME magazine profile of David notes that he has “advocated for consumer protection, advised breaking up the largest, too-big-to-fail banks and addressed other industry-structure issues, while investigating the financial sector’s myriad ties to the government.”

David has also taught Administrative Law and Legislation at the University of Richmond School of Law. He graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he served as managing editor of the Harvard Civil Rights—Civil Liberties Law Review, and with honors from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Media Appearances:
David has appeared on CNN, CBS, ABC, CNBC, NPR and Fox News Channel, and been published in or quoted by publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, the Chicago Tribune, TIME, Bloomberg, POLITICO, Roll Call and The Hill.