Climate Adaptation Under Deep Uncertainty: Tradeoffs, Institutions, and Learning

About Dr. Russell

Michael C. Russell is the Chief Economist at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, where he  leads the Department’s regulatory impact analysis efforts as part of the rulemaking process. His additional work reflects  a growing focus on the intersection of climate risk, municipal finance, and affordability at the state and local level. In  2025, Michael co-authored The Economic Risks of Climate Change in New Jersey, a forward-looking synthesis  examining potential impacts on property markets, infrastructure, tourism revenue, and other aspects of the statewide  economy. He has taught economics at the university level and previously led sustainability and applied research  initiatives in academic settings. 

Abstract

Climate adaptation is examined as a domain for re-evaluating familiar ideas from economics, policy, and  environmental management. Rather than treating adaptation as a technical problem with clear solutions, it is approached  as a set of choices shaped by deep uncertainty, limited resources, institutional constraints, and competing priorities.  Drawing on environmental, ecological, and public economics, the discussion explores how adaptation decisions raise  questions about risk, timing, responsibility, and distribution in a world where past experiences are unreliable guides to  the future. Informed by scholarship on institutional learning and educational change under disruption, adaptation is  framed as a practice of learning and unlearning, with space for reflection and discussion rather than definitive answers.