YSE Economist Plays Key Role in Newly Finalized Guidance on Accounting for Ecosystem Services
How do proposed projects such as logging or new pipelines affect the benefits people derive from parks, wetlands, forests, and other natural resources? Until now, there have not been any specific federal guidelines directing agencies on how to assess ecosystems impacts. Eli Fenichel, Knobloch Family Professor of Natural Resources Economics at YSE, played a critical role in a new first-of-its kind guidance finalized by the White House in February, which provides a blueprint to assess how ecosystem services can be enhanced or diminished by federal rules.
Fenichel helped develop the guidance while on leave in 2021 to serve as assistant director for natural resource economics and accounting at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The agency, along with the Office of Budget Management (OBM) was tasked by President Biden with modernizing regulatory reviews to incorporate the assessment of natural assets.
“This is an avenue for real change. We’ll have more consistency in rulemaking and regulation around how we think about environmental services. Agencies will take a clearer and more deliberate view of how different rules or different programs create or alter the services people get from the environment and ecosystems,” Fenichel said.
While the value of ecosystems has sometimes been included in federal assessments in the past, there has never been a government wide directive or guidance for all federal agencies to account for costs and benefits of actions that impact natural resources. This omission has led to the “under-valuing and erosion of our natural resources,” said Arati Prabhakar, director of OSTP, and Richard Revesz, administrator for Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB.
Agencies now must identify direct and indirect impacts on how their proposed actions might affect ecosystem services and establish a no-action baseline and explore alternative options.
March 11, 2024
Eli Fenichel
Knobloch Family Professor of Natural Resource Economics
More News in Brief
Federal Ginseng Rules Poorly Predict Plant Health
A YSE-led study published in Environmental Research Letters found that current federal rules regulating American ginseng harvest — based on plant age and leaf count — poorly predict the biological traits that matter most for conservation.
Ginseng, a wild plant prized in traditional medicine, can only be legally harvested once it's at least five years old and has three leaves. However, when researchers measured hundreds of ginseng plants, they found that age was a weak guide to how large a plant's root had grown or how many seeds it could produce.
The authors say switching to size-based harvest limits could do more to protect ginseng in the wild, while also making the rules easier for harvesters and forest farmers to follow.
The study was led by Karam C. Sheban ’26 PhD, and co-authored by Mark Bradford, the E.H. Harriman Professor of Soils and Ecosystem Ecology, and Marlyse C. Duguid, the Thomas J. Siccama Senior Lecturer in Field Ecology.
July 15, 2026
Mark Bradford
E.H. Harriman Professor of Soils and Ecosystem Ecology
Marlyse Duguid
Thomas J. Siccama Senior Lecturer in Field Ecology; Research Scientist; Director of Research, Yale Forests
Most Americans Say Climate Change Is Raising Their Bills
A new survey from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication finds that two-thirds of registered voters think global warming is affecting the cost of living in the United States a view shared across the political spectrum. Energy is the cost Americans feel most acutely: a quarter of voters point to energy costs as the expense most impacted by global warming, more than food, transportation, or insurance. Looking specifically at utilities, 66% of registered voters think global warming is causing their home utility bills to rise. The findings suggest energy affordability could be a unifying entry point for climate conversations, offering a way to discuss climate change that resonates regardless of political affiliation
Read the full Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2026 report from YPCCC.
June 22, 2026
Anthony Leiserowitz
JoshAni-TomKat Professor of Climate Communication; Director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC)
The Importance of Tracking Earth-System Methane Fluxes
Methane is one of the most powerful levers for slowing near‑term warming, yet the world still lacks the tools to track it with confidence. Sparkle Malone, assistant professor of ecosystem carbon capture, explains why a coordinated global observation system is essential for understanding both human and natural methane emissions.
Read the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture Q&A with YSE faculty Sparkle Malone.
May 07, 2026
Sparkle Malone
Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Carbon Capture