Orlando’s green guru named to DOE office

Chris Castro will manage an annual $5 billion budget

Chris Castro, formerly Buddy Dyer’s sustainability director in Orlando, was appointed this month to the Biden Administration, heading up a new office to carry out the president’s environmental agenda.

Castro was named the chief of staff for the Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs last week and will help oversee roughly 100 employees and an annual $5 billion budget, he said.

The office was created by the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which directed $62 billion to the Department of Energy, and will be used to deploy resources to state and local governments to help transition to renewable power, he said.

“The transition from the energy that built our world — fossil fuel — to the energy that is going to shape our future — renewables — is the greatest economic and job creation opportunity of the 21st century,” he said. “I hope that this office can really support states, communities and tribal nations, and schools and nonprofits in preparing themselves for this unbelievable transition, making sure that the benefits get to those who need it the most.”

Castro, 33 and a UCF alumnus, worked eight years for the city and helped create policies that require new construction to be wired for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, require city buildings to meet LEED energy efficiency standards and a roadmap to transition Orlando’s fleet of vehicles to renewable fuel sources.

“I’ve been proud to serve alongside Chris Castro, who’s led @citybeautiful’s sustainability efforts,” Dyer tweeted. “He’s accepted a Presidential appointment with the federal government to help cities nationally make sustainability a priority and I know he’ll make a big impact in his new role.”

Orlando hasn’t hired a replacement yet, but is planning to, said Ashley Papagni, a spokesperson for the city.

In his new role, Castro said he’ll be working directly with public schools, nonprofits and local governments to direct funding and technical assistance toward projects. Programs include weatherproofing assistance to lower utility costs for low-income households and improving the energy efficiency of schools and school buses.

Castro said he never applied for an appointment to the administration, but was contacted in March by the office of presidential personnel, informing him he was a finalist for the role. At first, he thought the message was suspicious and a phishing attempt.

“It was completely a shock to me that I was being contacted,” he said.

But he confirmed it was a real email and spent the next few months interviewing for the position. The appointment was formally announced earlier this month.

Castro grew up in Miami and frequently worked at his stepdad’s palm tree nursery, which fueled a love of nature, he said. He went to UCF on a full scholarship to study environmental science, and also completed a work-study program at the Department of Energy headquarters in the District of Columbia, where he now works.

The release announcing his appointment praised his entrepreneurship.

In Orlando, he had to give up roles on 19 boards and organizations, he said, including many he founded or helped create. He cofounded the eco-farming group Fleet Farming, which pedals through Orlando neighborhoods turning lawns into urban gardens, the nonprofit IDEAS For Us as well as Climate First Bank, a community bank focused on sustainability.

While accepting the job in the heart of midterms elections, Castro said the office is likely safe politically because it has money coming to it over a period of years from the infrastructure bill, which was passed with support from members of both parties. The office is centralizing several programs the department already oversees, which will improve efficiency, he said.

“We’re on the right track in Orlando,” he said. “I think this is a big indicator that you can start at the grassroots — literally starting with Fleet Farming, you can’t get more grassroots than turning grass lawns into farms — it’s a big news story for anybody who is a community organizer and is on the ground doing these kinds of action projects, that the work is being looked at at all levels.”

Castro