David G. Hawkins began his work in "public interest" law upon graduation from Columbia University Law School in 1970. After working for the Stern Community Law Firm in Washington, DC for one year, he joined NRDC's then new Washington office in 1971. Together with former NRDC attorney Dick Ayres, Mr. Hawkins began NRDC's Clean Air Project. The Project has monitored and shaped the design of the federal Clean Air Act since the law's passage. The intent of the Project has been to provide a voice for the public in the countless decisions that EPA and State agencies make every year in delivering on the law's promise of improved air quality.

In the early 1970s, Mr. Hawkins was successful in persuading the U.S. Environmental Agency (EPA) to deny delays to the auto industry in meeting pollution cleanup schedules; he also won a major case requiring EPA to develop programs to improve transportation systems in urban areas as an air pollution control strategy.

In 1977 he was appointed by President Carter to be Assistant Administrator for Air, Noise, and Radiation at EPA. In that position he was responsible for initiating major new programs under the 1977 Amendments to the Clean Air Act.

With President Reagan's election in 1981, Mr. Hawkins returned to NRDC to co-direct NRDC's Clean Air Program. Working with the Clean Air Coalition, NRDC defeated a prolonged effort by the new administration to roll back the protections o the Clean Air Act. Eventually Congress passed a much-strengthened law in 1990 and NRDC was a major architect for all of its provisions.

Since 1990 Mr. Hawkins has directed NRDC's Air and Energy Program, and in 2001 became director of the NRDC Climate Center, which focuses on advancing policies and programs to reduce pollution responsible for global warming and harmful climate change.