AL GORE AND SCHNEIDERMAN'S CLIMATE ALLIANCE
In 2006, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore partnered with Cathy Zoi, Chief of Staff on Environmental Policy during the Clinton Administration, to create the Alliance for Climate Protection (ACP) and its affiliate, the Climate Protection Action Fund. While Gore became ACP's board chairman, Zoi served as CEO.
On March 27, 2009, President Obama announced his selection of ACP chief executive officer Cathy Zoi as his nominee for Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (at the Department of Energy). On June 19, 2009, the U.S. Senate confirmed Zoi for this post, with Maggie L. Fox replacing Zoi as ACP’s new CEO. In her new role, Zoi managed the Energy Department's $2.3 billion applied science, research, development and deployment portfolio, and she oversaw $16.8 billion in funding that had been made available under Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (more commonly known as the 2009 Stimulus Package).
In January 2010, John Stossel of Fox Business reported that Zoi’s husband, Robin Roy, was the policy director of Serious Materials, a company that had benefitted from a special tax credit provided by the Obama administration's Stimulus Package. By April 2010, a number of other media outlets reported that Zoi and her husband had a significant financial stake not only in Serious Materials, but also in Landis+Gyr, both of which stood to benefit from government spending.