(Adds more comments from Morton; background)
By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) – John Morton, the U.S. Treasury’s first climate counselor, is stepping down, effective Friday, but says he is confident his work in coordinating climate change policies across the department will continue – even beyond the Biden administration.
Morton, who left climate change advisory and investment firm Pollination Group to join Treasury in April 2021, told Reuters he was returning to the private sector, but Treasury would hire a replacement and keep operating the “climate hub” he headed.
“I’m really hopeful that we potentially have turned the corner where the economic imperative and the risk associated with inaction … is more firmly understood,” he said in an interview. “I’m hopeful that that will add continuity to the agenda … well beyond the (Biden) administration.”
Morton said targeted hiring over the past two years had also given the…