Phil Sharp

Phil Sharp is president of Resources for the Future, an independent and nonpartisan research institution devoted exclusively to policy analysis on energy, environmental and natural resource issues, a position he has held since 2005.  Sharp was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana in 1994 and was elected to nine succeeding Congresses until his retirement in 1995.  Sharp played a prominent role in the development of landmark energy legislation, including the 1992 Energy Policy Act as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee where he chaired the Subcommittee on Fossil and Synthetic Fuels, and the Energy and Power Subcommittee from 1987 to 1995.  Prior to his election to Congress he taught political science at Ball State University.  Following his service in Congress, he joined Harvard’s Kennedy School where directed its Institute of Politics from 1995 to 2001.  From 2001 to 2010, Sharp was congressional chair of the National Commission on Energy Policy that produced the report, “Ending the Energy Stalemate: A Bipartisan Strategy to Meet America’s Energy Challenges.”  Sharp earned a B.S. degree from Georgetown University’s School of Public Service and a Ph.D. degree from Georgetown University.