Making America Green and Safe

Dr Alan Hecht has a long career of advancing climate science and policy and building a resilient and sustainable society. From 1970 to 1976, he was Professor for Geosciences at West Georgia College, USA, before becoming the first Director of the Climate Dynamics Program at the National Science Foundation in 1976. He has also served as the Director of the National Climate Program Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he worked with federal agencies in developing US policy on climate research and negotiating the first climate change agreement. In 1989, he moved to the Environmental Protection Agency to help advance international activities, and helped prepare for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the negotiating team for the environmental side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement. From 2001 to 2003, Hecht was on detail to the National Security Council and the Council on Environmental Quality, and was the White House Coordinator in preparing for the 2002 Johannesburg Earth Summit. In 2003, he returned to EPA’s Office Research and Development (ORD), and, since then, has led EPA research activities on sustainability. His publications include over 30 papers on climate history and sustainable development.