Ian A. Bowles is an American environmentalist, politician, and political aide who served as Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs from 2007 to 2011.

Bowles began his career in politics as a legislative aide to Congresswoman Claudine Schneider

Claudine Schneider

Claudine Schneider is a former Republican U.S. Representative from Rhode Island. She was the first and to date only woman elected to Congress from Rhode Island....

. After Schneider left office, Bowles became a policy analyst at Conservation International

Conservation International

Conservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, which seeks to ensure the health of humanity by protecting Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity. CI’s work focuses on six key initiatives that affect human well-being: climate, food security, freshwater...

. In 1996 he was a Democratic candidate for United States Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 in Massachusetts's 10th congressional district

Massachusetts's 10th congressional district

Massachusetts's 10th congressional district is a political constituency that includes parts of the South Shore of Massachusetts, and all of Cape Cod and the islands. With a population of 635,901 and a land area of , it is the most populous of Massachusetts's ten congressional districts and the...

. He finished in third place behind Bill Delahunt

Bill Delahunt

William D. Delahunt is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Delahunt did not seek re-election in 2010, and left Congress in January 2011. He was replaced by Norfolk County District Attorney Bill Keating...

 and Philip W. Johnston.

From 1999 to 2001, Bowles was the associate director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He then served as a senior research fellow at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is a permanent research center located within the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The center's current director is political scientist Graham T. Allison....

 (part of the John F. Kennedy School of Government

John F. Kennedy School of Government

The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...

), vice president of Conservation International, and executive director of Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC), a nonpartisan think tank based in Boston.

On December 15, 2006, Governor-elect Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick

Deval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton...

 named Bowles secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. As Secretary, Bowles helped guide the passing of the Green Communities Act in 2008 and took a strong position backing Cape Wind

Cape Wind

The Cape Wind Project is an approved offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, proposed by a private developer, Cape Wind Associates, the brainchild of Jim Gordon and a Limited Liability Company set up as a joint business venture...

. Bowles stepped down as secretary in 2011.