Professor Freeman served in 2009-2010 in the Obama White House as Counselor for Energy and Climate Change where, among other things, she led the process that would result in a historic doubling of fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, a signature achievement of President Barack Obama’s first term. The car emission standards were the single most successful policy to date for reducing oil consumption in the U.S. They demonstrated that President Barack Obama would use executive power forcefully to reduce U.S. emissions despite congressional inaction, helping to lay the groundwork for U.S. participation in the Copenhagen Accord and the Paris Agreement. Freeman has written about the process of negotiating the Obama car standards, the inter-agency cooperation that was required to get it done, and the agreement of the auto industry not to challenge the standards in exchange for regulatory certainty and uniformity. Freeman is a frequent commentator, including as a guest essayist for the New York Times, on greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards in the transportation sector, and has written about their necessary role in driving a transition to electric vehicles.