Natural resource and environmental policy should be based on our accumulated knowledge of social and environmental processes. The policy faculty teaches students that the key to environmental policy is the appropriate integration of the insights of many disciplines. Three overarching themes are the foundation of research and instruction by the Policy group. First, the group advocates that an organized combination of natural and social science theory be used to guide environmental policy in the best service of society. Second, the group recognizes the importance of empirical analysis. Third, the Policy group is involved in designing optimal and equitable programs to protect the environment. The governance of environmental protection is a central concern of the entire group.

A wide range of courses apply to this area, including Risk and Property; Integrated Resource Planning; Natural Resource Economics; Pollution Economics; Energy Economics; Valuing the Environment; Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment; Environmental Protection Clinic; and Environmental Law and Policy.

Faculty: Robert Mendelsohn (Coordinator), Paul Anastas, Benjamin Cashore, Marian R. Chertow, Susan G. Clark, William Ellis, Daniel C. Esty, Bradford S. Gentry, Reid J. Lifset, James R. Lyons, Erin T. Mansur, , Sheila Olmstead, Robert Repetto, James Gustave Speth, John P. Wargo, Julie Zimmerman