UMass Magazine Online

Spring 2005

Departments

Prerequisite

Features

There Goes the Neighborhood

Fab Four

The Gravest Danger

The Wonderful World of Disney

Cooking Lessons

Prerequisite

Rain Man
Daniel Dudek helps China's environmental future

—Grace Friary




	Environmental Defense economist Dan Dudek led the implementation of a cap-and-trade pollution program in China.

WORLD
Daniel Dudek is helping ensure that China’s economic boom won’t bust its environmental future

Dan Dudek ’73 still has the front page of The New York Times, April 22, 1970, which tells the story of the first celebration of Earth Day. The then 21-year-old soldier, recently assigned to New York after completing a tour in Korea, was part of the crowd that gathered in that city to participate in a nationwide teach-in on the environment. It changed his life.

“Although I knew I would attend UMass Amherst when I was discharged from the service, I had no idea what would become of me,” says Dudek. “I had recently returned to America from serving in the army in Korea. The message of that first Earth Day was profound, and coupled with the impression made on me by the Koreans’ strong interest in recycling, I started to think that perhaps I really could help make a difference in this world,” reflects Dudek.

Indeed he has.

Now chief economist, Environmental Defense, he’s the man credited by former president George H. W. Bush with breaking the logjam on acid rain. He has traveled the world, meeting and working with heads of state, politicians, and environmental leaders, from Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair and past heads of the Environmental Protection Agency to former Chinese premier Li Peng and his successor, Wen Jiabao, as well as Russia’s “father of perestroika,” Dr. Abel Agenbegyan.

An international expert on the control of acid rain, Dudek commutes between China and his home just south of the Adirondacks. As a member of numerous boards and international committees, he is working to reverse the effects of acid rain. In 2002, he was the coleader of a partnership between Environmental Defense and the Chinese EPA to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in that country by 20 percent—equivalent to shutting down about 150 coal-fired power plants. Last year, Dudek received the highest honor China grants to foreigners, the National Friendship Award, in recognition of the effectiveness the Environmental Defense policy of emissions trading has had on improving the country’s environmental management capacity.

Dudek champions the concept of emissions trading. This approach limits the amount of pollution produced by an industrial source, such as power plants and factories. When emissions fall below permitted levels, factories may store the excess quota for future use or trade with other industrial units unable to meet pollution standards required by environmental protection authorities. This maintains an acceptable cap on overall emissions; in trade jargon, it’s known as “cap and trade.” Among the many major accomplishments of Dudek’s professional career is the inclusion of his emissions trading design in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Dudek first visited China in 1991. Government officials invited him after learning of his research on curbing the effects of acid rain. Dudek advised on China’s early experiments to develop economic policies for pollution control. He began to immerse himself in Chinese traditional culture and the harmonious relationship between nature and humanity. An intense focus on integrating the importance of that relationship into his work led Dudek to an investigation of the practical, as well as the economic, advantages of effective environmental management. He then slowly began to lay the foundation for introducing demonstration projects illustrating the positive effects of emissions trading.

In Dan Dudek’s world, ancient Chinese thought mixes naturally with modern technology. The two meet in his personal life as well and inform his commitment to the environment. This father of two describes his adopted Chinese daughters as “truly precious gifts. As a father, you shoulder tremendous responsibility for your children’s future,” says Dudek. “I feel it is the same with environmental protection.”

China, and its population of 1.3 billion people, is staring down daunting environmental challenges. It is home to 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world. One quarter of the country is desert, which is growing by 1,300 square miles a year. By 2020, up to 30 million people will have had to leave their homes because of losing access to land and water as the sand encroaches. Dudek’s main strategy for reforming environmental policy in China is to harness the power of the market for, rather than against, the environment. The mixed blessings of China’s manufacturing boom mandate that the government focus intensely on controlling the emissions causing acid rain, smog, and climate change. While acknowledging the enormity of China’s environmental problems, Dudek remains optimistic.

“For China, the consequences of how the population and the environment are controlled are staggering. Remember, this is a huge country that has a tremendous impact on every aspect of the world’s environment and on the global economy,” he says. “Environmental Defense’s distinctive approach to environmental protection emphasizes science, economics, and the use of market mechanisms appropriate to reach well-crafted, durable solutions. This approach can work in China.”

Dudek’s road to China began in Amherst in 1973. After graduating summa cum laude, he took an MS and a PhD in Agricultural Economics at the University of California, Davis. He was agricultural economist, National Resource Economics Division, USDA, before returning to teach in the UMass Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics from 1982 to 1986.

Dudek credits UMass Amherst with being a leading institution in the study of acid rain. “I joined the UMass faculty in 1982 and at that time the University’s Water Resources Center had developed a remarkable monitoring network to help document the effects of acid rain. I was most impressed with the work of Professor Paul Godfrey and a volunteer corps of student assistants who set about analyzing water samples from ponds and streams in the region.”

John Foster, retired Professor, Department of Resource Economics, remembers Dudek as an outstanding student and a wonderful colleague. “Dan was exceptional in every way. I remember him first as being enormously capable and very self-effacing—and, as being a very sensitive and thoughtful man. He would never point out a mistake that a professor might have made during a lecture or in a discussion. Rather, he would engage the professor in conversation after class, often asking, ‘Have you ever thought about it this way?’ That sensitivity to others is so very rare.”

When asked what in his impressive career has given him the most satisfaction Dudek shows that trademark empathy. “I feel privileged to have the capacity to make the world a better place,” says Dudek. “Life in all its forms is important and insuring that there is real quality to life is something I will continue to work to implement.”

[top of page]

What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath: more images

The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind: more images

Mister Un-Hollywood

Mister Un-Hollywood: larger image

Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams: larger image

A Hockey Player with Heart

A Hockey Player with Heart: more images

Naming Rites