Melissa Hoffer

Melissa A. Hoffer is an American environmental lawyer currently serving as the Climate Chief of Massachusetts, the first to hold a seat of this kind in the country. As a lawyer, she headed cases including Boumediene v. Bush (related to the Algerian Six) She believes in a "whole-of-government approach" to climate change and that environmental issues should not be isolated to a single government department.

Early life and education A native of southeastern Pennsylvania, Hoffer holds a BA from Hampshire College, an M.Ed from University of Massachusetts, a JD from Northeastern University School of Law (1998), and a certificate in environmental management from Tufts University. She and her team travelled to Guantanamo to interview their clients and she was one of several contributors to a book about Guantanamo attorneys, wherein she discussed the torture endured by one of her clients. In October 2008, in Boumediene v. Bush, the US Supreme Court ruled that habeas and other protections of the US Constitution applied to detainees at Guantanamo and other foreign nationals. The judge ruled that five of the Algerian Six were being held illegally and ordered their release. The sixth prisoner, Bensayah Belkacem, later had his case appealed and was freed in 2010.

After leaving WilmerHale in 2007, Hoffer worked as the Vice President of the Conservation Law Foundation, where she became the director of the Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice program, as well as the CLF New Hampshire Advocacy Center. She also started the Sustainable Farm & Food System and the Transportation for Massachusetts initiatives and raised awareness about the pollution caused by coal-fired power plants

Hoffer was a law clerk for Magistrate Joyce London Alexander in Boston. In this role, she led the litigation against ExxonMobil for not adequately informing investors and residents in Massachusetts of the true impact of fossil fuels on the climate.

Hoffer was tapped by governor-elect Maura Healey to become Massachusetts' Climate Chief, the first role of its kind in the United States, and moved into the role in April 2023. The same month, she launched the Youth Climate Council, a group of high school students who she would meet with on a regular basis to discuss environmental issues. One of her first actions as Chief was to establish the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank, the United States' first green bank "dedicated to affordable housing." Among her more specific recommendations are Massport reducing the number of short haul flights; decarbonizing new public school construction; developing a Climate Service Corp to train "young people for jobs in clean energy and climate resilience;" and introducing a Comprehensive Coastal Resilience Plan to follow as climate change increasingly impacts coastal areas. Additionally, she calls for a restructuring of the Mass Save program, a utilities program currently overseen by utilities providers. She recommends adding additional administrators to the project to support cost savings rather than to entirely replace the providers.

Personal life In her spare time, Hoffer raises Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats on her farm in Barre.