Michael Wara is a lawyer and scholar focused on climate and energy policy.

Wara is a Senior Research Scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program. The Program provides fact based, bipartisan, technical and legal assistance to policy makers engaged in the development of novel climate and energy law and regulation. Wara also facilitates the connection of Stanford faculty with cutting edge policy debates on climate and energy, leveraging Stanford’s energy and climate expertise to craft real world solutions to meet these challenges.

Wara’s legal and policy scholarship focuses on carbon pricing, energy innovation, and regulated industries. He collaborates with economists, engineers, and scientists in research on the design and evaluation of technical and regulatory solutions to climate and energy challenges. He is also an expert on international environmental law with a particular focus on the ozone and climate treaty regimes.

Prior to joining the Woods Institute, Wara was an Associate Professor at Stanford Law School and an Associate in Holland & Knight’s Government Practice. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his Ph.D. in Ocean Sciences from the University of California at Santa Cruz.