From EESI Intern to State Climate Advocate | Article

Two years ago, I was a policy and development intern at EESI. It was the summer before my senior year at Princeton University. I was passionate about a range of issues—from income inequality to democratic reform to migration policy—where I knew I could make a positive impact, but was not quite sure when and how to start. Interning at EESI gave me the resolve to work on the greatest crisis of our time: climate change, which has the potential to improve or exacerbate many other social issues.

Katie Schneer

At EESI, I worked on a wide range of projects. I could spend the morning writing a fact sheet on jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency and the afternoon attending a Congressional briefing on climate resilience. In between, I had the opportunity to work alongside EESI staff—an inspiring cohort of people who embody both a personal responsibility to tackle climate change and the imperative to inform smart policy choices that can secure a cleaner and safer future.

One topic that left a lasting impression on me was extreme heat. During my internship, I encountered research from the Union of Concerned Scientists projecting a dangerously hot future: heat is already the nation’s leading weather-related killer and will become increasingly frequent and severe as the climate warms. Driven by this dire warning, I dedicated my senior thesis to studying extreme heat vulnerability and highlighted a pressing need to improve urban adaptations to extreme heat.

Now, I work on subnational climate policy at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), advocating for states to deliver ambitious climate action. When the Trump Administration withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, governors and state legislatures stepped up to fill the void of federal leadership. With a new commitment to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030—and scientists sounding the alarm that time is running out to aggressively cut climate-warming pollution—it is more critical than ever for states to keep their promises.

Interning at EESI not only honed my research, writing, and analytical skills, which prepared me to be an effective advocate at EDF, but also gave me momentum to pursue climate action in my career. I am incredibly grateful for my EESI experience and hope many others take advantage of this opportunity to advance meaningful climate policy.

Author: Katie Schneer