David B. Goldstein has worked on energy efficiency and energy policy since the 1970s.
Dr. Goldstein has been instrumental in the development of energy efficiency standards for new buildings and appliances currently in effect at the regional and national level in the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China.
David B. Goldstein received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the recipient of its Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002 and the California Alumni Association’s 2003 Award for Excellence in Achievement.
Posted October 15, 2014 by David Goldstein
NRDC President Frances Beinecke’s book sets forth a goal of net-zero climate pollution in our lifetime. As Frances and I are both in our 60s, that implies we need to get there quickly. Here is why this ambitious goal is necessary:...continued→
Posted October 9, 2014 by David Goldstein
The very week of the announcement that the researchers who helped create energy –efficient LED lighting received the Nobel Prize, two nay-sayers on efficiency find a forum in the New York Times to express their poorly-reasoned doubts . Michael Shellenberger...continued→
Posted October 8, 2014 by David Goldstein
It was great to see economists in two separate New York Times opinion pieces recently noting that controlling climate pollution may be economically beneficial rather than restraining growth, as conventional wisdom among economists has held. Eduardo Porter, a former editorial...continued→
Posted August 5, 2014 by David Goldstein
Bill Irwin of the New York Times asks “Why is the economy still weak?” and blames five underperforming sectors. Housing is not only his leading culprit, but he claims that it exacerbates the weakness of the second-worst sector—durable goods consumption...continued→
Posted June 13, 2014 by David Goldstein
The nation’s housing markets remain depressed. If most everyone agrees that reinvigorating construction is an important goal, why aren’t we aggressively pursuing it? This blog shows how America can reignite the housing market: by reforming mortgage underwriting rules to make...continued→
Posted April 23, 2014 by David Goldstein
Over the years, NRDC has worked on a variety of policies to promote energy efficiency, recognizing that there is no silver bullet that will solve all of our energy efficiency problems at once. NRDC’s efforts have focused on getting energy-saving...continued→
Posted September 27, 2013 by David Goldstein
Protecting the environment often requires reforming how business is regulated by government. In some cases, this requires increased regulation. But this blog describes a major example of how it can go the other way. We all want smarter land use...continued→
Posted September 18, 2013 by David Goldstein
The government’s announcement that housing starts were disappointing for the second month in a row is not only a substantial economic problem, it’s also a significant environmental one. Let me explain: This is an economic problem because, as the New York...continued→
Posted August 21, 2013 by David Goldstein
NRDC and our allies at the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) are proposing a change to the 2015 national model residential energy code that, for the first time ever, brings the nation’s largest homebuilders together with energy efficiency advocates in...continued→
Posted July 9, 2013 by David Goldstein
Fannie Mae’s recent findings that property owners with apartment buildings located in walkable, transit-friendly neighborhoods are less likely to default on their mortgages parallels a smaller, NRDC-sponsored study that found the same thing for loans on single-family homes. Both studies...continued→
Posted March 20, 2013 by David Goldstein
I have been blogging repeatedly on the value to the economy of reforming mortgage underwriting rules to account for the better loan performance of energy efficient and location efficient homes. A new study supported by the Institute for Market Transformation...continued→
Posted March 11, 2013 by David Goldstein
In his March 5 piece, Washington Post columnist Neil Irwin bemoans the lack of legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the now-bankrupt federally-backed funders of home mortgages. His point would be further strengthened by considering an additional failure...continued→
Posted February 7, 2013 by David Goldstein
Increasing America’s energy productivity is critical to jumpstarting our economy, according to a non-partisan commission report released today, but understanding why requires a closer look at the factors that caused the recession and how more energy efficiency can reverse them....continued→
Posted September 28, 2012 by David Goldstein
The Washington Post reported recently that “Entrepreneurs Run Into Roadblocks” in France that prevent them from bringing innovations into the market. The article contrasted this problem to the situation in America, where entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed. Promoting innovation...continued→
Posted September 24, 2012 by David Goldstein
When I was vacationing in Alaska in July, I saw a man wearing a T shirt that trumpeted freedom and the defeat of tyranny while displaying the international symbol for forbidden over the words regulation and mandates. The wearer of...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
