Andrew J Kieffer

Andrew Kieffer joined the Sabin Center in September 2025 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative, which uses legal research and engagement to support siting utility- and community-scale renewable energy facilities and associated transmission and storage equipment. His work focuses on identifying legal pathways to challenge land-use and siting barriers which impede the development of renewable energy and delay the energy transition.

Andrew graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2025. At UChicago, Andrew participated in the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic where he represented energy justice organizations before the Michigan Public Service Commission. During his summers, Andrew served as a law clerk for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, a legal intern for the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of the Interior, and a Human Rights Center Fellow.

Prior to law school, Andrew served as a city planner for the City of Warrenville in Illinois — seeing firsthand the complex impacts of localism on community development. He graduated with a B.S. in environmental planning from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. While at UWSP, Andrew cofounded and directed a state campaign advocating for institutional divestment from fossil fuels.