Ray Kopp, who researched environmental and climate economics at a prominent Washington think tank, died Aug. 19. He was 75 years old.
Kopp, who spent decades working at Resources for the Future, died of prostate cancer, according to his family.
During his 47 years with the think tank, Kopp served as RFF’s vice president for research and policy engagement and as the leader of its comprehensive climate strategies program. His research focused on assigning value to environmental and natural resources that don’t have market prices and on federal and international climate policy.
One of Kopp’s key professional contributions was developing tools to measure the value of non-market goods, such as public lands or wilderness areas, said Karen Palmer, a senior fellow at RFF and Kopp’s longtime colleague.
