King will apply experience in sustainability, entrepreneurship and equity to advance electrification of the freight sector; Bast will support state and local implementation of federal charging infrastructure programs
Washington, D.C.— Steve King and Chris Bast have joined the Electrification Coalition as Senior Manager of Freight Electrification and Director of EV Infrastructure Investments, respectively, putting to work their long history of experience in sustainability and energy policy.
King’s previous work centered on workforce development, sustainability, entrepreneurship and equity. He is the founder and former CEO of the Barack Obama Green Charter High School, New Jersey’s first charter high school focused on sustainability. Bast has 15 years of political and policy experience at the state, local and federal levels and served in the administrations of three Virginia governors.
King developed and managed a Union County, N.J., workforce development program focused on conservation, climate change and clean energy skills. As a community organizer in New York City, he worked on environmental justice issues, focusing on health impacts of diesel emissions from bus and truck depots in Black and Brown communities. He interned at the Hong Kong Transport Department’s sustainability unit, where he worked to reduce petroleum use in passenger buses.
At the Electrification Coalition, King now manages the organization’s freight electrification program, which works with industry leaders to reduce the sector’s reliance on oil.
“I’m thrilled to join the Electrification Coalition’s freight team and to help steer this important and fast-growing body of work,” King said. “The movement of goods is responsible for a disproportionate share of oil consumption and emissions, so electrification of freight will yield outsize benefits for public health, national security and the climate.”
King is a committee member of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Committee, and he previously directed the RAY Diversity Fellowship Program, which works to diversify the environmental and clean energy sectors. He founded Global Sustainable Solutions, which manages the Fellowship for Diversity in Sustainability, a national fellowship program for the private sector.
King worked with the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations, focusing on green jobs. He served as a program designer and facilitator for the Black Trade Union Leadership Academy at Cornell University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Pace University and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the New School University.
Bast has built and supported diverse coalitions of stakeholders to advance climate and energy policy for more than a decade. Most recently, he served as Chief Deputy Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. He provided strategic communications and policy support for the agency and worked across the Northam Administration to advance a comprehensive climate agenda. His work included transportation decarbonization, environmental justice, climate policy and carbon markets.
Bast previously spent eight years working on climate and energy policy in the Pacific Northwest, first with Climate Solutions, a regional climate and clean energy advocacy organization, and then as the lead transportation decarbonization advisor for the City of Seattle. He received his undergraduate degree from James Madison University, where he currently serves on the Political Science Alumni Board. He received his MPA from Seattle University. Chris and his family live in Richmond, Virginia.
At the Electrification Coalition, Bast will lead the organization’s work to manage and support federally funded charging infrastructure and EV deployment projects at the state and local levels. He will work with partners in the public, private and nonprofit sectors to facilitate the efficient, equitable and effective implementation of charging stations and electric buses.
“We are on the cusp of a massive transformation of our country’s transportation system,” Bast said. “Cities, states, the federal government and the private sector all have important roles to play. We have an historic opportunity to undo our dependence on oil, grow the clean energy economy, protect public health and address some of the most serious threats to our national security. I am excited to help lead the hard work ahead.”
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About the Electrification Coalition: The Electrification Coalition is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that advances policies and actions to facilitate the widespread deployment and adoption of electric vehicles in order to combat the economic, public health, and national security threats created by America’s dependence on oil.