The Environmental Defense Fund’s work, put simply, is in “finding the ways that work.” Founded in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, the organization’s mission is to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends. This is done with an emphasis on balancing the often-clashing interests of science and economics. This work in the four biospheric areas of climate, oceans, ecosystems, and health has prompted The Economist to name the staff of EDF as “America’s most economically literate green campaigners.” In describing its activities, the organization says that sound science dictates its agenda, and stemming from this are economic incentives the EDF develops with corporate and congressional partners. The Environmental Defense Fund prides itself as being the first group of its kind to hire a PhD economist in 1975, along with successes in reducing McDonald’s packaging waste and FedEx soot emissions.
