David M. Hart

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Clean Energy Innovation
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @profdavidhart
David M. Hart is a senior fellow and director of ITIF's Center for Clean Energy Innovation, and a professor of public policy at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. Hart directs ITIF’s Center for Clean Energy Innovation, which seeks to accelerate the transition of the domestic and global energy systems to low-carbon resources. He is also a former member of ITIF’s board.
Prior to joining ITIF as a senior fellow, Hart co-authored (with Richard K. Lester) Unlocking Energy Innovation (MIT Press) and published numerous articles on energy innovation policy in academic and policy publications. In 2011 and 2012, he served as assistant director for innovation policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he focused on advanced manufacturing issues. He contributed to the National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing and the reports of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. After leaving the White House, Hart co-authored (with Robert D. Atkinson and Stephen Ezell) the ITIF report “Why America Needs a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation.”
Hart served as senior associate dean of the George Mason School of Public Policy during the 2014 and 2015 academic years. He currently co-chairs the Innovation Policy Forum at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. His other books include The Emergence of Entrepreneurship Policy (Cambridge University Press), and Forged Consensus: Science, Technology, and Economic Policy in the U.S., 1929-1953 (Princeton University Press). He earned his Ph.D. in political science from MIT in 1995.
Research Areas:
Recent Publications
Further Energizing Innovation in Fiscal Year 2023
The FY 2023 budget request signals America’s commitment to sustaining bipartisan momentum for clean energy innovation. Congress should seize this opportunity to accelerate domestic clean energy industries and shape the U.S. response to climate change.
Active Carbon Management: Critical Tools in the Climate Toolbox
Technologies to capture and store carbon must be part of the arsenal to fight climate change. To deploy them at scale, policymakers should expand federal incentives, increase RD&D for traditional and novel technologies, and expedite permitting and siting of requisite infrastructure.
First of Its Kind: Making DOE’s New Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations a Success
The U.S. Department of Energy’s new Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations is a tremendous step forward for innovation and must become a permanent fixture in the federal structure. DOE needs time right now to build up the new office systematically, and over the next few years its funding must grow rapidly, so that it can drive a steady stream of innovations ready to be scaled up nationally and globally.
Comments to the Department of Energy on Deployment and Demonstration Opportunities for Carbon Reduction and Removal Technologies
ITIF is pleased to submit the following comments to the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Managements request for information regarding the opportunity for carbon capture and direct air capture technologies.
Innovation Uptake: The Final Frontier for Energy Policy
The Biden administration and Congress should adopt innovation uptake policies to ensure that the remarkable products of federal investment and American ingenuity are not left moldering on the shelf.
One Year Later, A Glass Half Full: Energy Innovation Under the Biden Administration
A year into the administration, the supply-push elements of the agenda have fared better than the demand-pull components. While a half-full glass is better than an empty one, only a full one will put the United States and the world on a path that will stop climate change.
Comments to OSTP and NTSC on How to Develop a National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing
In these comments, ITIF offers high-level and granular recommendations on how to formulate a strategic plan for advanced manufacturing, including emerging areas of science and technology to focus on, R&D priorities, public-private and regional partnerships, tech transfer, workforce skills, the manufacturing supply chain and industrial base, and useful models to expand.
Don’t Add Carbon Tariffs to the Growing List of Global Trade Tensions
Allies and partners like the United States, the EU, the United Kingdom, and Canada should avoid destabilizing trade frictions that threaten to derail much-needed climate progress and instead work toward a collaborative climate innovation club.
Wheezing Toward Glasgow: The Parlous Health of the Global Clean Energy Innovation System
Technological innovation is essential for fighting climate change, but the global clean energy innovation system is not healthy enough to drive it as quickly as it is needed.
The 2021 Global Energy Innovation Index: National Contributions to the Global Clean Energy Innovation System
To meet growing global demand for energy services while averting the worst consequences of climate change, the world must accelerate clean energy innovation. Western Europe contributes most to this global process. The United States has faltered. And China has a long way to go.
Comments to the International Trade Administration on U.S. Clean Technologies Export Competitiveness Strategy
ITIF’s comments identify clean energy technologies that offer opportunities for U.S. exports, discuss challenges, and offer recommendations to overcome these challenges.
Comments on U.S. DOE’s Call for the Establishment of a New Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute
ITIF responds to the Department of Energy’s request for information on the establishment of a new clean energy manufacturing institute, supporting the establishment of a new institute focused on industrial decarbonization and electrification, and the decarbonization of metal manufacturing.
Recent Events and Presentations
Accelerating More Equitable EV Adoption Through Technological, Business Model, and Policy Innovation
Please join ITIF’s Center for Clean Energy Innovation for an expert discussion on the findings and policy implications of a new report examining the connection between equity and innovation in the context of EVs.
Devil in the Details: Reconciling the House and Senate Versions of Competitiveness Legislation
Watch ITIF and an expert panel featuring key policymakers and leading analysts who discussed how to bring House and Senate versions of competitiveness legislation across the finish line in a form that will be a winner for U.S. workers and the economy.
Rejuvenating Global Energy Innovation to Deliver on Glasgow
ITIF's Center for Clean Energy Innovation hosted a discussion of the health of the global clean energy innovation system, why continuous investments in the system matter, and what a healthy system should look like.
Earth, Wind, and Fire: Why Spurring Further Innovation in Renewables Matters
ITIF’s Center for Clean Energy Innovation hosted a panel discussion on why continued innovation matters, what an innovation agenda for advanced renewables should look like, and which technologies are likely to be the next big things.
National Grades for the UN Climate Summit: Who Contributes the Most to Global Energy Innovation?
ITIF released the latest edition of its Global Energy Innovation Index, a multi-faceted assessment of national contributions to the global energy innovation system, and hosted a discussion about how to push the pace with leading energy innovation policy experts.
How to Make U.S. Manufacturing Clean and Competitive in the Global Low-Carbon Economy
ITIF hosted a discussion about a recently released report, in partnership with Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Fraunhofer USA Center for Manufacturing Innovation, outlining policy recommendations to integrate the U.S. manufacturing innovation and competitiveness agenda with emerging national climate policies.
Innovation Drag: The Impact of Chinese Economic and Trade Policies on Global Innovation
Watch our overview of this research, including sectoral analysis of five advanced industries: telecommunications equipment, biopharmaceuticals, solar photovoltaics, semiconductors, and high-speed rail. ITIF analysts will discuss how Chinese policies affect global innovation and steps allied nations can take to mitigate the harm.
Energizing Innovation: Federal Energy RD&D in FY22 and Beyond
ITIF hosted a discussion on energy RD&D in the federal budget, and prospects for FY 2022 with experts from ITIF and elsewhere.
Battery Manufacturing Powers Up: Transatlantic Catch-Up and Cooperation
ITIF hosted a transatlantic discussion of EV battery policy and how cooperation and competition might best be balanced for this “industry of the future” that’s already here.
Gene Editing for the Climate: Biological Solutions for Curbing Greenhouse Emissions
Join ITIF for a presentation of a new report on gene-edited solutions for climate change and a panel discussion on the implications of these technologies.