Peter Lehner

Former Executive Director

Peter Lehner served as the executive director of NRDC and the NRDC Action Fund, the organization’s 501(c)(4) affiliate, from 2007 to 2015. He guided NRDC’s policy positions, advocacy strategies, communications, development, administration, and management and led the Action Fund’s political activities. He also oversaw the launch of NRDC offices in Beijing and Chicago and started the Center for Market Innovation. Prior to joining NRDC, Lehner served as chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office, where he supervised all environmental litigation by the state, prosecuted a wide variety of polluters, and developed innovative multistate strategies targeting global warming, acid rain, and smog-causing emissions. Lehner also worked as a senior attorney for NRDC’s water program and created and led the environmental prosecution unit for New York City. Lehner holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and mathematics from Harvard College and is an honors graduate of Columbia University Law School.

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