Penn Announces Jacqueline Patterson as Carnot Prize Winner for Contribution to Energy Justice

Penn Kleinman Energy Policy Center announced that the 2024 Carnot Prize will be awarded to energy justice advocate Jacqueline Patterson.

Each year, the Kleinman Center awards the Carnot Prize to an individual who has “revolutionized our understanding of energy policy” through their scholarship or practice. Patterson received this year’s award for her work promoting energy equity and serving communities across the country facing environmental injustice.

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Patterson is the founder and executive director of the Shirley Chisholm Legacy Project, an organization that promotes awareness and education about energy justice in Black communities. The project is inspired by Chisholm, who was the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968 to represent New York’s 12th congressional district.

Founded in 2021, the Legacy Project has launched multiple initiatives to benefit Black communities in the United States and around the world. One of these initiatives is the Global Afro-Descendant Climate Justice Collaborative, which aims to “build, deepen, and broaden African diaspora participation” in collaborations and “advance racial analysis and action within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”

Patterson is also the founder and former senior director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, which creates and distributes resources to educate communities seeking to advance climate and environmental justice. The program advocates for three primary goals: reducing harmful emissions, promoting efficient and clean forms of energy, and improving community resilience.

“We are thrilled to recognize the extraordinary work of Jacqueline Patterson, who has dedicated her career to calling attention to energy injustice and works tirelessly to correct it,” said Fritz Steiner, dean of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, in the announcement.

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The Kleinman Center initiated the Carnot Prize in 2015, making Patterson the ninth recipient. The prize is named for French scientist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, whose theory of the efficiency of the heat engine helped develop the second law of thermodynamics.

Previous Carnot Prize winners include inaugural winner Daniel Yergin, who was recognized for his global influence on energy policy and markets as an author and vice president of research firm IHS. Last year’s winner, Ramón Méndez Galain, is executive director of the Ivy Association, which aims to support Latin America’s development toward a new, sustainable transformation model for the 21st century.

“What an honor to follow in the footsteps of the impressive energy policy experts who have received this award before me,” Patterson said in the announcement. “What a joy to be honored by the Kleinman Center, which holds such a prominent place in the field of energy policy. I stand with and serve the awe-inspiring frontline leaders across the country and around the world whose sacrifices are immense, and whose vision, courage, spirit and strategic acumen guide me every day.”

The Carnot Award ceremony honoring Patterson will be held October 7 at the Energy Forum at the Kleinman Center.