Evan Li ’27, Geosciences

Evan Li ’27

Major

Geosciences

Project Title

Justice40: Federal Climate Policy Meets Environmental Justice

Presentation Link

View Evan's Presentation

I analyzed the relationship between current federal climate policy and environmental justice. In early 2021, the White House released new guidance on climate change in the form of an initiative called Justice40, which aims to ease historical environmental injustices through climate infrastructure spending. The program directed federal agencies with climate programs to provide 40% of the program benefits to “disadvantaged communities.” I conducted primary research into how federal agencies and programs reacted to the new Justice40 guidance and developed a paradigm for comparing the compliance of different federal agencies. This culminated in an interview framework designed to be used by grant program administrators with the goal of compiling more information on each program and agency’s transition under Justice40. Our hope is to use these interviews as a starting point for developing policy briefs for grant applicants and policy-makers alike. Through this project, I learned much about the process of collecting and organizing qualitative data and gained experience creating and receiving formal feedback on an interview protocol. This experience has already inspired me to look into more research opportunities throughout my undergraduate years and potentially beyond.