Philip R. Sharp

Phil Sharp, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana from 1975 to 1995 and a prominent authority on energy and environmental policy, was appointed president of Resources for the Future on September 1, 2005. Sharp's career combines extensive academic and political experience.

In Congress, he took a key leadership role in the development of major energy legislation. He was a driving force behind the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which led to the restructuring of the wholesale electricity market, promoted renewable energy, established more rigorous energy-efficiency standards, and encouraged use of alternative fuels. He also helped to develop a critical part of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, providing for a market-based emissions allowance trading system.

Sharp served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he chaired the Fossil and Synthetic Fuels Subcommittee from 1981 to 1987 and the Energy and Power Subcommittee from 1987 to 1995. He also was a member of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, where he was a member of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee and the Water and Power Resources Subcommittee.

Following his decision not to seek an eleventh consecutive term in the House, Sharp joined Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Lecturer in Public Policy from 1995 to 2001. He served as Director of Harvard's Institute of Politics from 1995 to 1998 and again from 2004 until his appointment at RFF.