Fred Krupp

In his 28 years as head of Environmental Defense Fund, Fred Krupp has been widely recognized as a pioneer in harnessing market forces for environmental ends, starting with the 1990 market-based acid rain reduction plan praised by The Economist as the decade’s “greatest green success story.”

Krupp also broke new ground by engaging companies to improve environmental performance. EDF’s partnerships with FedEx, McDonald’s, Walmart and others have developed hybrid electric delivery trucks, eliminated millions of pounds of packaging waste and improved energy efficiency. EDF accepts no contributions from its corporate partners.

In 2011, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu appointed Krupp to the seven-member panel charged with recommending measures to reduce the environmental impact and improve the safety of natural gas production. On the panel, Krupp was a powerful voice for greater oversight and enforcement, strong regulation of air and water pollution, public disclosure of chemicals in fracking fluids and wastewater, and reduction of methane leakage.

Krupp is coauthor, with Miriam Horn, of the New York Times bestseller, Earth: The Sequel – The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming, published by W.W. Norton. Educated at Yale and the University of Michigan Law School, Krupp lives with his family in Connecticut.