At the beginning of the year, the John Locke Foundation welcomed our new CEO, Amy Oliver Cooke. Recently, the State Policy Network (SPN) published a get-to-know-you interview with Cooke.

Among the interview questions are:

  • Why did you want to work for the John Locke Foundation?
  • What are you most excited about joining the John Locke Foundation?
  • How would you summarize your vision for the John Locke Foundation?
  • Where is the John Locke Foundation making the biggest difference in people’s lives?
  • What policy issue are you most passionate about?
  • What advice would you share with current and aspiring Network leaders?

On the question of what policy issue Cooke is the most passionate about, Cooke responded:

“Energy policy. There are places in the world where children living without electricity find a lit parking lot at night so they can learn how to read. In the United States, if we can provide enough energy to power our economy at an affordable level, and export some of it to other countries that may need it, we raise the quality of life—not just for Americans, but for people throughout the world.

I once attended an Arthur Brooks event where he asked: “What keeps you up at night?” For him, it was global poverty. For me, it was a woman named Sharon Garcia from Pueblo, Colorado. Sharon and her family sometimes have to turn the power off because Colorado policies have driven up their electricity costs. The Washington Post described her as having a depression-era obsessiveness with electricity. This is a woman who’s trying to raise her kids without a government handout. I’m in the freedom movement so people like Sharon Garcia don’t have to be described this way because they can’t afford basic energy costs.”

Read the full interview here. You can watch Amy’s first interview as CEO of the John Locke Foundation here, and you can follow Amy on Twitter @TheRightAOC.