Erich Pica

Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica is a nationally recognized expert on energy subsidies who for more than a decade has worked to reform U.S. tax and budget policy in ways that reduce climate-warming pollution and help spark a transition to clean energy. Prior to becoming Friends of the Earth’s president in 2009, Erich served as the organization’s director of domestic programs. In that role, he designed and launched many of Friends of the Earth’s campaigns including efforts to bring emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and synthetic biology under greater public and regulatory control and to reform how the federal government manages and invests in our transportation system. Erich has testified before Congress and has appeared extensively in the media, including recent appearances on NBC Nightly News, the News Hour on PBS, and Bill Moyers Journal. Erich has been interviewed on National Public Radio and PRI’s Marketplace and has been quoted in publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Economist, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, and E/The Environmental Magazine, as well as by wire services including the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and Reuters. Erich comes from a family of farmers and educators in a conservative part of southwest Michigan. He discovered his passion for the environment while attending Western Michigan University. After school, he moved with his wife-to-be Amy to the Washington, D.C. area. He is a trombonist in the Montgomery County Symphony Orchestra, is an avid golf hacker, and enjoys working in his small, chemical-free vegetable garden.