4 minutes with…Graham Noyes, Attorney, Keyes, Fox & Wiedman; Acting Executive Director, Low Carbon Fuels Coalition

Tell us about your organization and it’s role in the advanced bioeconomy.

KF&W is a boutique law firm dedicated to renewable energy, distributed generation and low carbon fuels. EQ Research is our research arm and provides tailored legislative, regulatory, and incentive tracking services. My practice focuses on the bioenergy sector, fuel regulations, and policies that drive business innovation and sustainability.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

I plan to continue my role as legal counsel to a wide range of companies on regulatory issues, contract development, policy strategy, compliance and enforcement defense. My regulatory work focuses on the RFS, LCFS, and Cap & Trade. My transactional work involves maximizing the value of environmental attributes, and developing and negotiating various agreements including joint ventures, feedstock and offtake agreements.

In 2014, I had the pleasure of working with a diverse group of companies to establish the Low Carbon Fuels Coalition. We saw the opportunity to establish a technology-neutral business voice that could facilitate the expansion and optimization of low carbon fuel policies. We are looking forward to the development of a more unified low carbon fuel industry that includes ethanol, biodiesel, drop in fuels, renewable natural gas, renewable and waste derived crude oils, and other fuels of the future.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?

This industry can deliver immediate and substantial GHG reductions. To achieve this and increase our market share, the current constellation of sub-industries must unify into one industry. To compete with powerful incumbents, this promising industry must find its voice, support the developing science of climate change, and foster wise policies.

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change?

I would encourage our industry to be more reluctant to publicly criticize other biofuel, biochemical and low carbon solutions, and to more actively protect existing policies that are favorable to the industry.

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you?

I joined the industry in 2000 because I believed it to be the industry of the future. That has never changed.

Where are you from? 

I grew up in Duxbury, Massachusetts, a beautiful town across the bay from where the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway? 

I was a Political and Social Thought major at the University of Virginia because I have always been fascinated by political evolution driven by new ideas.

Who do you consider your mentors. What have you learned from them?

The person I have grown to admire most in the political realm is Governor Jay Inslee. When we moved to Washington when I was working with Imperium Renewables, we chose Bainbridge Island as the place to call home. At the time, Jay was in the House of Representatives representing our district. I was lucky enough to regularly chase him down as he boarded the ferry to Seattle. Jay was one of the first US politicians to recognize the threat of climate change and to pursue measures to address it. He worked tirelessly in DC and dutifully commuted back to Bainbridge Island every weekend to be with his wife Trudi and his family. Jay could never hear enough about biofuels and would pepper me with questions about Imperium and the development of new biofuels as we crossed Puget Sound on the ferry. He fought hard to become Governor of Washington and shows great dedication to his family, his state, and his country. And he remains remarkably humble, amiable, and approachable to this day.

What’s the biggest lesson you ever learned during a period of adversity?

I have found that relentless persistence and positivism are the best responses to any challenge.

What hobbies do you pursue, away from your work in the industry? 

We have three kids and we all enjoy family camping trips and remote cabins. I do as much mountain and road biking as I can, and also relish backpacking, downhill and cross country skiing, and water skiing.

What 3 books would you take to read, if stranded on a desert island?

I would want to tap into as much energy as I could so would bring along People and Houses that Harvest the Sun, Wind, and Water. I would have lots of time on my hands so would look for the biggest book of Greek myths that I could find- preferably one with diagrams of the constellations. The third would be a book on wooden boat building…

What books or articles are on your reading list right now, or you just completed and really enjoyed?

I recently finished the Wild Muir by Lee Stetson which was great reading, and would also recommend Rebecca Stutt’s The Coral Thief. I am trying to read Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century but can’t seem to find the time.

What’s your favorite city or place to visit, for a holiday?

The South Island of New Zealand stands out as a great place for a family holiday from my time there many years ago.