Alex Beehler is a member of FaegreBD Consulting's energy, climate and environment team where he provides strategic advice and facilitates access on environment, energy and sustainability matters for clients to government agencies, particularly the U.S. Department of Defense and the military components.

Alex held several key positions with the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., from 2004-09. He was Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations & Environment; Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Environment, Safety & Occupational Health (ESOH); and Principal Deputy to the Deputy Under Secretary with Top Secret Clearance. Alex's experience in the Department of Defense included:

• Head of ESOH Policy Office with direct supervision of 30 personnel and $125 million budget.
• First Chief Sustainability Officer with responsibility for implementation of the President's 2007 Executive Order on Energy, Environment & Transportation; launching of Senior Executive Steering Committee focused on integration of military operations from design to disposal; reducing hazardous chemical use by 20 percent; increasing procurement of green products by 25 percent; and security issues related to reliance on foreign oil, greenhouse gases and competition for resources.
• Oversight of two energy/environmental research funds and two military boards involving explosive safety and pest management.
• Launched emerging contaminant program to manage chemical use.
• Served on Defense Science Board's Task Force on Energy Security, DOD's Energy Security Policy Executive Committee, and interagency executive committees on bio-based fuels and global climate change.
• Developed 2005 ESOH Directive, recognizing DOD's ESOH responsibilities to communities adjacent to base fence lines.
• Initiated series of exchanges between Installations & Environment staff and counterparts of major corporations and environmental NGOs on best management practices in sustainability.
• Partnered with states, federal agencies and NGOs to sustain DOD's water resources, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay Region (DOD's Clean Water Act compliance rate for major wastewater treatment plants improved from 72 percent in 2004 to 82 percent in 2007).
• Integrated ESOH considerations into decision making for overseas military operations, global redeployment; negotiated stationing agreements and bilateral exchanges on best management practices with UK, Canada and Australia.

After graduating from law school, Alex spent 25 years in private law practice as a corporate regulatory director and served in several other federal government agencies, including 10 years in the U.S. Department of Justice as a senior trial attorney in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division. He also is a former executive vice president of a government contracting company specializing in environmental services to the U.S. Army.

• U.S. Department of Defense — Medal for Exceptional Public Service, 2009

• U.S. Department of Interior — Federal Advisory Committee on Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration, 2005-07
• U.S. Department of Commerce and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Industry — Federal Advisory Committee on Customs Matters, 1986-90

• District of Columbia Bar Association
• Maryland Bar Association
• Virginia Bar Association
• Environmental Law Institute
• Chesapeake Bay Alliance (Annapolis, Md.) — Board Chair
• Imagine Schools (Arlington, Va.) — Board Member
• TechLaw Holdings Inc. (Chantilly, Va.) — Board Member
• Constellation, an Exelon company (Baltimore, Md.) — Public Sector Advisory Boar Member

• George Washington University, National Law Center — "Superfund Settlements," Public Law and Policy Course, 1993-95

• Defense-Funded Biofuels Program Can Spur Production and Lower Risk to U.S. Government
  Co-author, National Defense Magazine, March 2012
• Securing Our National Security in Times of Global Change
  Author, National Defense Magazine, December 2009
• A Worldwide Laboratory
  Co-author, Environmental Forum, November/December 2007
• Sea Change at Defense
  Co-author, Environmental Forum, September/October 2005
• Contesting of CERCLA Recovery Costs: There Is No Contest
  Co-author, Environmental Law Reporter, December 1992