Download the RFF brochure - Resources for the Future

Resources for the Future
60 YEARS OF
INVESTING IN IDEAS

WHO WE ARE
For more than a half century, Resources for the Future (RFF) has
served as a steward of natural resources, providing objective economic
research and policy analysis to help leaders make informed decisions
about complex environmental challenges.
Public, private, and nonprofit decisionmakers around the world call upon
RFF experts to design, analyze, and evaluate policies; advise government
officials on policy options; develop tools for efficient decisionmaking;
create methods to accurately value intangibles; and convene thought
leaders and stakeholders to discuss current and emerging issues.
How We Stand Apart
• Recognized as independent and nonpartisan
• Focused on the economics of environmental and natural
resource policy
• Trusted by public, private, and nonprofit leaders
• Located in Washington, DC, only minutes away from the White
House and Capitol Hill
• Committed to intellectual excellence and practical
solutions

ABOUT US
Resources for the Future is an independent, nonpartisan organization
that conducts economic research and analysis to help leaders make
better decisions and craft smarter policies about natural resources and
the environment.
Our Core Values
With a focus on environmental economics, RFF is committed to
utilizing research excellence and independent analysis to deliver
practical solutions.
Our Experts
RFF brings together Ph.D. economists and other leading experts
focused on environmental, natural resource, and energy issues.
Our Governance
RFF’s Board of Directors includes industry and environmental leaders,
as well as former policymakers and preeminent scholars.
Our Support
As a 501(c)(3) organization, RFF is supported by donors who understand
the role that rigorous, objective research plays in formulating sound
public policies.

OUR ROLE
Leaders today face environmental challenges that have serious
implications for economic growth as well as economic choices that will
shape the future of the environment. Creating policies that satisfy both
needs is not easy. RFF is a credible, independent voice that helps “cut
through the noise” of current debates, providing decisionmakers in the
public and private sectors with the ability to understand the present
and prepare for the future.
RFF has helped strengthen both the environment and the economy
through research and analysis on topics such as:
• alternative ways to more cost-effectively reduce carbon
emissions and U.S. dependence on oil;
• the social and economic benefits of investments in conservation;
• the risks associated with the new drive for natural gas;
• the tough choices about tradeoffs to address resource scarcity;
• the cost-effectiveness of environmental regulations; and
• frameworks for valuing intangibles, such as clean air and water.

OUR WORK
RFF provides a foundation for policymaking based on facts, analyzing
issues that directly affect the well-being of current and future
generations. In addition to an active portfolio of research focused on
forest management and conservation, risk management, water policy,
and regulatory analysis, RFF’s Centers of Excellence focus RFF’s
research in three key areas.
In the Center for Climate and Electricity Policy (CCEP), experts conduct
new research on domestic climate change mitigation policies—with an
emphasis on the U.S. electricity market—while building upon a legacy of
analysis of climate change adaptation and global mitigation strategies.
RFF Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth (CMEW)
scholars work with practitioners and policymakers to incorporate
ecological science into public policies and resource management
decisions that protect, enhance, and manage the social benefits of
natural systems.
Experts in RFF’s Center for Energy Economics and Policy (CEEP)
conduct research to help policymakers understand the efficiency and
effectiveness of legislative, regulatory, and other options for the
sustainable development of energy resources.
RFF actively shares the results of its work with policymakers,
environmental organizations, the business community, academic
scholars, the media, and the interested public.

OUR LEGACY
In 1951, President Truman’s Materials Policy Commission recommended
the formation of an independent organization to analyze the supply of
the country’s natural resources. RFF was founded in 1952 to answer
that call.
Supported initially by grants from the Ford Foundation, RFF focused
its early years on natural resource scarcity and import dependence. It
became the first “think tank” devoted exclusively to natural resource
and environmental issues.
RFF pioneered the field of environmental and natural resource
economics, providing policymakers around the world with the tools to
better grasp the many dimensions of resource scarcity, and improving
the way policy decisions are made.
1616 P St. NW • Washington, DC 20036 • 202.328.5000
www.rff.org