Jaymal Patel, an MPP student at Harris Public Policy, spent his summer working with Mark Templeton, the director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic. During the fellowship, Patel assisted in drafting a white paper on the implementation of water quality trading in Illinois, drafted a comment evaluating the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed rulemaking on benefit-cost analysis under the Clean Air Act, and analyzed the use of the Social Cost of Carbon in EPA’s and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s final rulemaking on fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards.
“I was fortunate enough to learn a great deal about the relationship between federal and state regulations, statutes, and guidance. It was enlightening to see the role that the various nuances in this relationship can play when considering innovative approaches to improving the environment or advocating for the use of the best available science in environmental regulatory decisions. I loved that this experience exposed me to environmental issues not only through a legal and economic lens, but also through a local lens with respect to water quality issues in Illinois. This exposure has inspired me to continue to explore how transportation policy and environmental policy can be better integrated to achieve more meaningful pollution reductions.”