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Laura Morton advises clients at all stages of major infrastructure project development, including environmental review and permitting required for generation, transmission, and related infrastructure. Her work encompasses onshore and offshore wind, solar, and electric transmission projects. Laura also helps her clients navigate government regulatory review and advocates for clients before multiple federal agencies. In addition, she works with companies to identify and obtain federal government funding for their renewable energy and transmission projects and manufacturing facilities, including from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and through federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Laura returned to private practice after serving as the senior director for offshore wind at American Clean Power (ACP), the United States’ leading renewable energy industry trade association. At ACP, Laura’s portfolio covered the offshore wind leasing and permitting process and multiple-use compatibility in the ocean environment, including commercial fishing, maritime traffic and safety, wildlife and other marine resources, and transmission. Laura also worked with ACP members to develop strategies to elevate issues surrounding environmental justice and delivery of benefits to underserved communities. Prior to joining ACP, Laura served as acting deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). At NOAA, Laura worked on a wide range of issues spanning water resources and data, fisheries, offshore energy, and aquaculture permitting.
Laura previously served as a senior advisor in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Energy and deputy associate director for energy and climate change at the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ), where she led interagency teams to implement the administration’s initiatives to improve federal permitting and review of large energy and electric transmission projects. Additionally, while at the DOE, Laura served as the agency’s representative on interagency offshore energy task forces, the National Ocean Council (NOC), and the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status, and she co-authored the 2015 Quadrennial Energy Review. Laura was also involved in evaluating and conducting merit reviews of applications for government funding of renewable energy projects.
In her decade of private practice, Laura represented energy companies in complex litigation in federal court; ensured corporate compliance with a wide range of environmental, land use, and natural resource laws; and conducted environmental due diligence for project finance transactions. Laura also represented companies in white-collar criminal matters, including U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), congressional, and grand jury investigations. Early in her career, Laura served as senior litigation and appellate counsel in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she briefed and argued dozens of cases in both district and circuit courts, leading to multiple favorable published decisions.
