Internships

Mayu Takeuchi ’23

Major

School of Public and International Affairs

Project Title

Climate Policy Advocacy: With Equity in Research, Policy and Practice

Presentation Link

View Mayu's Presentation

Certificate(s): Environmental Studies, Values and Public Life, Statistics and Machine Learning

I worked with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on climate policy research and advocacy in California and Washington. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is currently developing the 2022 Scoping Plan, California’s roadmap for achieving its climate goals. As part of this process, I advocated for EDF’s priorities of: raising climate ambition, including through tighter emissions caps in the cap-and-trade program; maximizing near-term emissions reductions; and ensuring equitable processes and outcomes for communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. I coordinated public comments submitted to CARB, co-authored an EDF blog post, and developed memos on climate investments in communities. For Washington, I contributed to advocacy surrounding the new Climate Commitment Act, delving into policy and political differences between the states. Additionally, I led the development of a literature review of the effects of emissions trading systems (ETSs) on local air pollution, and I identified key benefits, harms and risks of ETSs, as well as ideas for policies to mitigate those risks and harms. Overall, I realized the importance of relationships — and who is at the table — in determining what policies get made and put into action. I am eager to continue working in the climate policy space, especially with the communities most impacted.