As President and CEO of HARC, Mr. John Hall leads a respected and reputable organization engaged in research and policy analysis for the purpose of forging effective and sustainable solutions to Texas’ huge climate resilience and climate justice challenges. The core issues of HARC’s work include air quality, clean and adequate supplies of water, energy, coastal management and the preservation of green spaces for various purposes.
Mr. Hall’s policy and research expertise focus areas include environmental justice, clean energy, and climate resilience, and emerging technologies that may be deployed to reduce air and climate pollution and also support economic growth and new job creation. Mr. Hall is leading HARC to elevate and connect its policy-related research with federal, state and local officials, community leaders, partners, and funders. He has been a thought leader and practitioner regarding the impacts of energy on air quality, the environment, communities, and climate for the past thirty years.
Prior to coming to HARC, he chaired the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), the predecessor agency to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). His key accomplishments there were to merge together environmental programs from several state agencies to form the TNRCC, create a framework to manage the Edwards Aquifer that was subsequently enacted into state statute; established Texas’ first Task Force to identify and assess environmental justice issues; and develop and implement a set of pollution prevention initiatives that catalyzed major reductions in air toxics and hazardous waste in the state.
Mr. Hall left a lasting mark on TCEQ by implementing the Mickey Leland Environmental Internship Program. From 1996 to 2010, in the capacity of President of John Hall Public Affairs, he played a leadership role in leading Texas to effectively address ozone non-attainment challenges in the Houston-Galveston and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas, including his service as Executive Director of the Texas Environmental Research Consortium (TERC) at HARC. More recently, he served in leadership roles at Environmental Defense Fund and led the advocacy organization’s clean energy efforts in ten of the largest states in the nation and vehicle electrification initiatives in Texas.
HARC has had the honor of working with Mr. Hall for 20 years through his work with TERC, as a former member of HARC’s Board of Directors, and as a recent Senior Advisor. In February of this year, the TCEQ published a video conversation about his life and career. Please click here to view it.
Awards and Achievements
2023 Gregg Cooke Award (Texas Energy Summit) | Excellence in Environmental Leadership
