Founded in 2008, Cogent Analysis Group delivers clear, action-oriented solutions and advice to commercial, non-profit, and all levels of government and tribal entities, with a particular focus on issues relating to our planet’s energy and environmental resources. We excel in the areas of energy policy and project development, and business and economic development — including government grant and contract identification and capture. In addition, we provide leadership and operational capacity to two spin-off companies in the Cogent family: Cogent Energy Systems and Cogent NanoMaterials.

Abraham Haspel, Ph.D. — President

Dr. Haspel is an internationally recognized expert in energy and environmental matters, and a well-known authority on American Indian affairs.  As a member of the Senior Executive Service since 1988, and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy (1993-2002) and the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Interior (2002 -2008), Dr. Haspel has been a leader at the highest levels of the U.S. government in resolving many of the most daunting issues in these areas during this time.  In addition, Dr. Haspel was one of the lead U.S. negotiators between 1993 and 2000 at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including the negotiations that led to carbon trading and the Clean Development Mechanism provisions of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. 

During his distinguished 30-year civil service career, Dr. Haspel received numerous honors, both domestically and internationally, recognizing his consistent ability to achieve success even in the face of bureaucratic obstacles. He was given the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, the highest award given a career civil servant, three times and the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Service, the second highest award given a career civil servant, two times – receiving them from both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He received the Honor Award for Distinguished Service, the highest award the Department of the Interior grants, and twice received the Secretary of Energy’s Gold Award, the highest honor award at Energy.

Joel Haspel — Vice President

Mr. Haspel is Cogent’s Tribal Economic Development lead and primary grant writer. Over the past decade, he has been directly responsible for obtaining more than $1 million in grant funds for Tribal clients, facilitating numerous Tribal business startups, mergers, and acquisitions, and providing strategic financing and business development advice to clients across Indian Country. In addition to these economic development activities, Mr. Haspel is responsible for evaluating and developing renewable energy projects for Cogent’s clients.

Prior to his time at Cogent, Mr. Haspel gained more than a decade of business, technical, and marketing experience in the private sector as a founder and executive at several venture-backed software companies. He was instrumental in raising capital, designing and implementing strategic marketing plans, successfully obtaining patent and trademark protection for core intellectual property, and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Douglas Russell — Senior Associate

Mr. Russell is a senior associate of the Cogent Analysis Group and president of MDF Associates, a Canadian consultancy focused on energy, environment and the economy.   He has over four decades of experience in high-level executive positions in both the public and private sector dealing with climate change and carbon markets.

In his positions as Director of International Climate Change Negotiations, Director of Air Issues Branch, and Director General Air Pollution Prevention Directorate at Environment Canada in the federal government of Canada, he has led Canadian negotiations to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) and headed Environment Canada’s policy development for climate change and air issues such as acid rain, smog and stratospheric ozone depletion.  After leaving government in 1996 he founded GCSI – Global Change Strategies International Inc., a consulting company that within five years was recognized as one of Canada’s leading climate change firms. GCSI projects included the development of a corporate climate change strategy for the Shell Group in London, climate policy design for the Canadian government, and capacity building in a variety of developing countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Dan Klein — Senior Associate

Mr. Klein is a senior associate of the Cogent Analysis Group and President of Twenty-First Strategies, LLC. He has over 30 years of consulting experience in the energy, environmental, and economic analysis arena. For many years a Senior Vice President and Director of ICF Resources Incorporated, he founded Twenty-First Strategies in 1995 to offer energy and environmental consulting services to energy companies, government agencies, and others.

Over the course of his consulting career, Mr. Klein has conducted hundreds of projects related to energy and environmental concerns, energy markets, electric utility fuel use, coal supply, transportation, and antitrust and market issues. His work in recent years has focused primarily on climate change, energy supply and usage, and related strategy and policy issues in the both the public and private sectors. Specific topics have included technologies for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, carbon capture and storage, Climate VISION GHG reduction programs, GHG inventories and reporting, and evaluation of international energy efficiency and GHG reduction projects. He has authored dozens of conference presentations and testified numerous times as an expert witness.