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Economics Alumni Update | Tomás Carbonell’s Journey into Law and the Environment

Carbonell is currently an associate attorney at the law firm of VanNess Feldman in Washington, D.C., specializing in climate change and environmental law. This includes analyzing legislative and regulatory developments in climate change and environmental law and providing counsel for a variety of clients in the energy, clean technology, and public interest sectors, including an emphasis on potential EPA regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. He also works with the firm’s Indian law, electric, clean technologies, and natural gas practice groups.

His recent work has included:

  • researching and developing policy proposals to promote widespread construction of green buildings
  • advising developers of greenhouse gas emission reduction projects on the implications of financial sector reform
  • preparing analyses of the Clean Air Act’s applicability to greenhouse gases for energy sector and public interest clients and
  • drafting technical comments for the Environmental Protection Agency on recent greenhouse gas regulations.

Carbonell also writes regularly on climate change issues for the firm’s website. In April 2010, he and his colleagues worked with the U.S. Green Building Council to research and draft a report entitled, Using Executive Authority to Achieve Greener Buildings: A Guide for Policymakers to Enhance Sustainability and Efficiency in Multifamily Housing and Commercial Buildings.

Between earning his bachelor’s degree in economics from NC State and beginning his career as an attorney, Carbonell served as a volunteer coordinator for Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala and traveled in Peru. He then served as an intern with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. From 2003 to 2005, he pursued dual master’s degrees in development economics and environmental management at Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar, and enrolled in the J.D. program at Yale Law School, graduating in 2008 with the aid of a Soros Fellowship.

Carbonell currently lives in Washington DC. with his wife Caitlin Boon (NC State alumna, 2002). She is a special assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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