Preserving Natural Resources through Policy
Hannah Druckenmiller joins the Caltech faculty this year as an assistant professor of economics. An environmental economist, Druckenmiller focuses on governmental policies concerned with preserving natural resources: whether the policies succeed or fail, how their costs and benefits can be better conceptualized for decision-makers, and how the effects of climate change can best be ameliorated through improved regulation. Druckenmiller earned her PhD in economics at UC Berkeley and most recently worked for Resources for the Future (RFF), a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., focused on environmental economics and policy research. What environmental policies are you most interested in? Two of the most significant environmental regulations in the United States at the federal level are the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. Although these regulations have been in place for more than 50 years, they're constantly being reassessed and reinterpreted. The scope of the Clean Water Act, for example, is repeatedly debated and redefined by the Supreme Court, presidential administrations, and state litigation. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has had different interpretation of which waters are regulated by the Clean Water Act under Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. And the change in the scope of environmental regulation is significant-we estimate that 30-40 percent of regulated waters lost federal protection when the Clean Water Act was reinterpreted by the Trump administration. How can the scope of the Clean Water Act change so dramatically?
