Resources for the Future

Resources for the Future (RFF) "is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research -- rooted primarily in economics and other social sciences -- on environmental, energy, and natural resource issues. Although RFF is headquartered in Washington, D.C., its research scope comprises programs in nations around the world.


 * "Founded in 1952, RFF was created at the recommendation of William Paley, then head of the Columbia Broadcasting System, who had chaired a presidential commission that examined whether the United States was becoming overly dependent on foreign sources of important natural resources and commodities. RFF became the first think tank devoted exclusively to natural resource and environmental issues."

"Hans Landsberg began his work at RFF in 1960, specializing in energy and mineral economics. His contributions included lead authorship in 1963 of Resources in America's Future, a thousand-page volume examining the role of natural resources in the U.S. economy and projecting their long-term availability. Both this and another 1963 RFF publication, Scarcity and Growth, set out the fundamental idea that the impact of growth on environmental quality was a much more significant problem than any threat of natural resource shortages.

"RFF also conducted notable research on the electromagnetic spectrum. Harvey J. Levin’s 1971 book The Invisible Resource: Use and Regulation of the Radio Spectrum, applied a market-based approach to utilizing the spectrum. Twenty years later the Federal Communications Commission recognized his approach and began licensing and auctioning these airwaves.

"In 1979, RFF was instrumental in the founding of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE), which was established as a means of exchanging ideas, stimulating research, and promoting graduate training in resource and environmental economics."

Former Presidents

 * Phil Sharp (as of 2005)
 * Paul Portney
 * Emery Castle
 * Joseph L. Fisher (1959-1974)
 * Reuben G. Gustavson

Board
Accessed October 2012:


 * W. Bowman Cutter - Chair - Senior Fellow and Director, Economic Policy Initiative, The Roosevelt Institute
 * Lawrence H. Linden - Treasurer - Founder and Trustee, Linden Trust For Conservation
 * John M. Deutch - Vice Chair - Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 * Philip R. Sharp - President - Resources for the Future
 * Frank E. Loy - Vice Chair, Washington, DC
 * Vicky A. Bailey - BHMM Energy Services LLC
 * Anthony Bernhardt - Environmental Entrepreneurs
 * Trudy Ann Cameron - University of Oregon
 * Red Cavaney - ConocoPhillips
 * Preston Chiaro - Rio Tinto Energy Group
 * Mohamed T. El-Ashry - UN Foundation
 * Linda J. Fisher - Dupont Environment & Sustainable Growth Center
 * C. Boyden Gray - Boyden Gray & Associates
 * Deborah S. Hechinger - Debbie Hechinger Consulting Group
 * Peter R. Kagan - Warburg Pincus, LLC
 * Sally Katzen - Podesta Group
 * Rubén Kraiem - Covington and Burling, LLP
 * Richard G. Newell - Duke University
 * Richard Schmalensee - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 * Robert N. Stavins - Harvard University
 * Lisa A. Stewart - Sheridan Production Company, LLC
 * Joseph Stiglitz - Columbia University School of Business
 * Mark R. Tercek - The Nature Conservancy

Chair Emeriti
 * Darius W. Gaskins, Jr. - Norbridge, Inc.
 * Robert E. Grady - Cheyenne Capital Fund

Directors (2008)
Accessed October 2008:

(*Member of the Executive Committee)
 * Lawrence H. Linden* - Chair
 * Frank E. Loy* - Vice Chair
 * Philip R. Sharp - President
 * Vicky A. Bailey
 * Michael J. Bean
 * Preston Chiaro
 * Norman L. Christensen, Jr.
 * Maureen L. Cropper
 * W. Bowman Cutter
 * E. Linn Draper, Jr.
 * Mohamed T. El-Ashry*
 * Daniel C. Esty
 * Linda J. Fisher
 * Dod A. Fraser*
 * Kathryn S. Fuller*
 * David G. Hawkins
 * R. Glenn Hubbard
 * Charles F. Kalmbach*
 * Michael A. Mantell
 * Steven W. Percy*
 * Peter J. Robertson
 * Matthew R. Simmons
 * Robert N. Stavins
 * Joseph Stiglitz
 * Mark R. Tercek
 * Resources for the Future: Former Directors

University Fellows
Accessed October 2008:


 * John F. Ahearne
 * John M. Antle
 * Jesse H. Ausubel
 * Gardner M. Brown, Jr.
 * Maureen L. Cropper
 * Partha Dasgupta
 * Robert T. Deacon
 * Hadi Dowlatabadi
 * Lawrence H. Goulder
 * W. Michael Hanemann
 * Charles D. Kolstad
 * Jon A. Krosnick
 * Simon Levin
 * John List
 * Anup Malani
 * Richard Newell
 * Wallace Oates
 * Stephen Polasky
 * Paul R. Portney
 * James N. Sanchirico
 * V. Kerry Smith
 * Brent L. Sohngen
 * Robert N. Stavins
 * Thomas N.S. Sterner
 * Michael R. Taylor
 * John E. Tilton
 * Jonathan B. Wiener

Contact

 * Web: http://www.rff.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * John Mark Deutch
 * Ruth Greenspan Bell
 * Rick R. Holley