Fuels & Transport Policy Intern

Program/Department Overview

The goal of the Clean Transportation team is to accelerate the transition to cleaner cars, trucks, planes, and ships. Transportation creates 20% of the world’s climate pollution and demand continues to grow worldwide. We must accelerate the transition of our cars, trucks, planes and ships to clean electricity and sustainable fuels, to deliver the goods and mobility people need, without compromising clean air or climate stability.

The goal of our Fuels & Feedstock work is to ensure new clean fuels and feedstocks are developed efficiently and cleanly. Not all global greenhouse gas pollution from industry and transportation can be addressed with clean electricity alone. We need new fuels and feedstocks – made from hydrogen, plants, and waste – to power heavy industry and long-distance transportation. And we need to develop them sustainably and equitably.

Overall Function

The intern will assess the effectiveness of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in driving deployment of high-integrity fuels, as well as unintended and/or negative impacts. They will engage with EDF experts across the Science, Aviation, Agriculture, and California policy teams to better understand the policy and political dynamics, as well as EDF’s sustainability criteria for alternative fuels. In addition to these internal conversations, they will conduct targeted interviews and desktop research to document policy impacts. Deliverables will include a report, annotated bibliography, and set of policy recommendations for how to improve the LCFS or design future policy drivers. This work will be used to inform future engagement in LCFS proceedings in California, other states considering similar policies, or national conversations around clean fuels deployment. The intern will report to the Senior Policy Director, Fuels & Feedstocks.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Conduct and summarize research around the design and impact of California’s LCFS.
• Identify key organizations engaging in LCFS policy debates or producing research.
• Produce a set of policy recommendations or design principles that can be used in different policy contexts.
• Participate in regular transport and/or biofuel team meetings, providing periodic updates on research.
• Provide support to the team by researching biofuels or transportation decarbonization topics as needed.
• Deliver a final presentation to the biofuels working group on research and recommendations.
• Participate in advancing EDF’s organizational effectiveness and culture goals, so people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included and empowered to address environmental and organizational challenges in ways that align with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled or recent graduate of an undergraduate degree program, with demonstrated interest in clean energy policy and/or transportation sector.
• Experience with California state policy and/or low-carbon fuels preferred.
• Coursework in environmental economics or clean energy policy recommended.
• Experience with conducting and synthesizing economic and scientific research, including conducting academic literature reviews.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Must be well organized, motivated, and detail-oriented.
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due.
• Demonstrate self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across all cultures and backgrounds.
• Demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills.

Location

U.S. Remote with option to be hybrid out of an EDF office in New York, NY, Austin TX, San Francisco, CA, Boulder, CO, Boston, MA, and Raleigh, NC, with a preference for Washington DC. Intern supervisor is in Washington, DC with team members across the U.S.

Term

Summer 2026 (10 weeks)

Hours

Full-time (35 hr/week)

Compensation

This internship would involve compensation for work paid at a rate competitive with leading non-profits at $18/hr.

Application Materials

Interested applicants should attach their cover letter and resume to the EDF application.