Despite being one of the world’s strongest economies, the United States faces significant environmental and climate challenges, notably air pollution and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events. This dissertation aims to empirically estimate the causal effects of environmental policies and extreme weather events on individuals and society. It comprises three chapters. Chapter 1, co-authored with Alex Hollingsworth, Ivan Rudik, and Nicholas J. Sanders, examines the impact of lead exposure on children's cognitive development by leveraging a quasi-natural experiment where the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) transitioned from leaded to unleaded gasoline in 2007. Chapter 2 investigates how expectations of flood risk shaped the impact of Hurricane Sandy on New York City's residential and commercial real estate markets. Using transaction-level property data, detailed census data, and granular geospatial information, this chapter emphasizes the importance of accurate flood risk information and explores the mechanisms driving price changes in response to flooding. Finally Chapter 3 studies the role of Category 3 and below hurricanes on property crime rate, before evaluating the efficiency of government’s pre- and post-disaster spending.