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RAND energy and environmental analyses examine the implications of existing and proposed energy policies on the environment. Building on a long history of policy research, RAND helps balance the need for environmental protections and economic development.

Multimedia
What Does Environmental Justice Look Like?
Videos describe the impact of grassroots environmental justice campaigns in two redlined neighborhoods. This work features RAND research that shows how a shared community vision can help residents, organizers, and policymakers understand the root causes of injustices and identify actionable responses.
Apr 19, 2023
Essay
An Early Warning System for Landslides Protects Sitka, Alaska
A 2015 landslide that killed three people in Sitka, Alaska, changed how residents looked at the steep hills all around them. The community worked with researchers to develop a warning system to prevent such tragedies in the future.
Mar 14, 2023

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Report
Assessing Racial Equity in Disaster Preparation, Response, and Recovery
Disasters have the potential to exacerbate preexisting racial inequities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency have made commitments to reduce social inequities, but frameworks, indicators, and metrics are needed for tracking progress toward equity goals.
Jul 15, 2021
Report
Incentivizing Solar: Catalyzing Solar Energy Technology Adoption to Address the Challenge of Climate Change
The authors provide an overview of the U.S. solar energy market and identify federal incentives that can help decarbonize the U.S. economy. They also explore solar reliability, job benefits, and availability to disadvantaged communities.
Jul 14, 2021
Tool
Developing Future Projected Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves: Technical Report
To support stormwater managers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and Virginia in adapting to climate change, this study updated intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves, a common tool used for stormwater infrastructure design, to reflect future climate changes.
Jul 9, 2021
Report
The Globalization of Mass Civil Litigation: Lessons from the Volkswagen "Clean Diesel" Case
This report describes the Volkswagen "clean diesel" emission fraud litigation to illustrate the features of global mass litigation and the problems that arise in the resolution of these types of claims across transnational jurisdictions.
Jun 22, 2021
Tool
Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Spring 2021
This climate summary aims to inform Mid-Atlantic policymakers and practitioners about spring 2021, regional climate trends, and the upcoming summer season. A tool shows flooding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania under historic and future climate.
Jun 21, 2021
Commentary
Depoliticizing Russian Gas in Europe
At their June 16 Summit in Geneva, Presidents Biden and Putin might consider how to reduce the sharp tensions over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Cooperation among governments and companies may offer potential.
Jun 11, 2021
Multimedia
Expert Insights: Crisis Response in a Changing Climate
In this audio conversation, senior analyst Lucia Retter is joined by Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, the nonexecutive director for climate change and sustainability for UK Defence, to discuss a study on the implications of climate change for UK defence logistics in crisis response situations.
Jun 4, 2021
Journal Article
The Impact of Black Carbon Emissions from Projected Arctic Shipping on Regional Ice Transport
Diverting shipping emissions from the Suez Canal to the Arctic will influence regional evolution of sea ice cover with regional differences in future sea ice retreat. These results are likely to have policy implications with expansion of industrial activities into the Arctic.
May 26, 2021
Report
What Are the Geopolitical Risks of Geoengineering?
Geoengineering is the intentional manipulation of an environmental process on Earth to counteract the effects of climate change. Geoengineering implementation could introduce geopolitical risks. This raises the question of whether existing international governance mechanisms can manage these risks.
May 25, 2021
Commentary
COVID-19 and Climate Change Both Require One Generation to Sacrifice for Another
COVID-19 and climate change are both global phenomena that left unmanaged will inflict excruciating human and economic tolls. They also require a similar mix of approaches to solve. But they have one more similarity that attracts less attention: they both require one generation to change behavior in support of another.
May 17, 2021
Report
Crisis Response in a Changing Climate: Implications of Climate Change for UK Defence Logistics in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) Operations
This study identifies the implications of climate change for defence logistics in crisis response operations. It identifies challenges to, and policy options for better delivery of, crisis response.
May 4, 2021
Report
Defence Mobilisation Planning Comparative Study: An Examination of Overseas Planning
Against the 2020 Defence Strategic Update, the authors use evidence from several countries to highlight the merits of a 'total defence' approach to mobilisation planning for Australia with the goal of meeting contemporary threats.
May 3, 2021
Journal Article
A Framework for Complex Climate Change Risk Assessment
In this perspective, we present a framework for three categories of increasingly complex climate change risk that focus on interactions among the multiple drivers of risk, as well as among multiple risks.
Apr 28, 2021
Journal Article
Best Practices and Lessons Learned from Community Engagement and Data Collection Strategies in Post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico
This paper examines community engagement and data collection strategies conducted in post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico, to assess how outreach approaches elicit different perceptions about disaster recovery and to identify best practices.
Apr 27, 2021
Multimedia
Successes in the Fight Against Climate Change
RAND senior policy researcher Benjamin Preston presents several climate change successes from recent years.
Apr 22, 2021
Commentary
'Joe-Yoshi' Spirit Buoys Japan-U.S. Alliance in Turbulent Seas
President Biden and Prime Minister Suga appear to have established a warm, personal rapport while communicating a clear vision of the importance of working together to end the pandemic, combat climate change, preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific, and defend democracy.
Apr 20, 2021
Commentary
Now Is (Finally) the Time to Future-Proof Our Infrastructure
The world is barreling toward a more volatile climate with infrastructure designed for the past. With infrastructure widely expected to be prioritized in Congress soon, every infrastructure bill is also a climate bill. It is critical that we make our infrastructure climate-safe.
Apr 1, 2021
Journal Article
The Societal Benefits of Vehicle Connectivity
This scenario analysis suggests that actions focused on enhancing equity in any push towards vehicle connectivity represent a low-regrets option for public, private, and civil society actors.
Mar 18, 2021
Tool
Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Winter 2020–2021
This climate summary aims to inform Mid-Atlantic policymakers and practitioners about winter 2020–2021 weather, regional climate trends, and the upcoming spring season. A tool shows historic snowfall in the Mid-Atlantic from 1981 to 2019.
Mar 17, 2021
Testimony
Core Principles of Public Health Emergency Preparedness
Public health emergencies are defined by their consequences, not their causes. That means infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 qualify, but so do some hurricanes and terrorist attacks. What can policymakers do to support effective public health emergency preparedness?
Mar 16, 2021

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Endy M. Daehner

Director of Operations, Global Research Talent, Senior Physical Scientist

Endy Daehner (she/her) is the director of operations for global research talent and a senior physical scientist at the RAND Corporation. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from California Institute of Technology and her B.A. in human biology from Stanford University. At RAND, she conducts…
Debra Knopman

Adjunct Engineer

Debra Knopman is an adjunct engineer at the RAND Corporation. She served as vice president and director of RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment, later called Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment, from 2004 to 2014, and then as a principal researcher from 2014 to 2022.

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