Summer 2027 Climate Policy Implementation Intern
About the role
NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) works to safeguard the Earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. NRDC combines the power of more than 3 million members and online activists with the expertise of some 800 policy advocates, lawyers, scientists, and communication experts to confront the climate crisis, protect nature, ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. As an international nonprofit environmental organization, NRDC is working to address the world’s most urgent environmental challenges, and advance innovative, science-based, and enforceable solutions. Since our founding in 1970, NRDC has helped craft and deliver many of America’s foundational environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Today, we continue to lead in advancing and defending strong environmental protections at the local, state, federal and international levels, as well as through the marketplace. Our team works across the United States and around the world, from offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as in Beijing, and New Delhi (a subsidiary of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd.). Supported by our members and online activists, NRDC is driving impactful solutions that confront the climate crisis, defend nature and safeguard public health across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. At NRDC, we believe lasting change happens when people bring their talent, passion, and expertise together for a common purpose: to build a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient world.
Our interns play an active role on the front lines of the environmental movement. Over the course of an internship, NRDC interns work with lawyers, scientists, or policy analysts in different program areas and amass experience that they could not have obtained anywhere else. Interns also have access to various events to enhance their NRDC experience. NRDC interns may support or work on:
Responsibilities
- Research, data collection, and analysis
- Writing and developing materials for state and federal campaigns
- Supporting with designing equitable policy solutions
- Copywriting and editing social media posts and supporting on marketing campaigns
- Brainstorming opportunities for process improvements, new vendors, partnerships, and engagement
- Project management of department and team-wide initiatives
POSITION SUMMARY: NRDC's Green Finance & Economic Development (GFED) Department is seeking a graduate intern to support GFED's climate policy implementation projects and initiatives. This intern will report into our Local Climate Investment Solutions Director. This intern can be based out of our New York, Santa Monica, or Washington, DC offices. Interns are expected to be onsite 3 days per week. The Climate Policy Implementation Intern will be part of a dynamic and growing team with a portfolio of work focused on climate policy implementation with local governments and communities. Local policy implementation work is both a rich incubator of future state and federal policy ideas, and a crucial test of the effective results, for example, energy affordability and access to benefits. This intern will engage in developing a refreshed set of policy briefs for municipalities that cover topics ranging from innovative financing tools to whole-home repair programs. Additional work may include exploring barriers to implementation, and developing survey instruments and other research and evaluation of municipal level policies and programs. The intern will regularly produce other reports and communication materials that support the department's key advocacy efforts.
Requirements
- Must be currently enrolled in a graduate program
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Able to work independently
- Project management and/or problem solving skills
- Strong attention to detail
- Research and/or data analysis skills
- Commitment to NRDC’s mission, values, and DEI principles
Pay
Stipend: This is a paid internship with a stipend equivalent of $10,000.00 paid bi-weekly