In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with David Hawkins, director of climate policy in the Climate & Clean Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council and a member of the board of directors at Resources for the Future. Hawkins has decades of experience working on energy and climate policy issues in NGOs and government. He walks us through the past 60 years of federal climate policy in the United States; helps us understand the scientific, political, and economic drivers that have shaped policy decisions from the 1960s all the way up through today, including a reflection on the Trump years; and takes a look ahead to the next four years under a new administration.

References and recommendations:

"Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer; https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass

"Coffeeland" by Augustine Sedgewick; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316748/coffeeland-by-augustine-sedgewick/