Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

We pursue climate action that meets the crisis’s urgency, creates good-quality jobs, benefits disadvantaged communities, and restores U.S. credibility on the global stage.

People with placards and posters on global strike for climate change. Woman speaking in megaphone in front of crowd. (Getty/urbazon)

What We're Doing

Pursuing environmental justice

Investing in equitable climate solutions that address the country’s legacy of environmental racism while working to ensure that all communities have the right to breathe clean air, live free of dangerous levels of toxic pollution, access healthy food, and share the benefits of a prosperous economy

Creating good, clean jobs at home

Laying the groundwork for an urgent transition to a clean energy economy that works for all, creating millions of well-paying jobs with the opportunity to join a union, and improving the quality of life for all Americans in the process

Protecting nature

Addressing the linked climate and biodiversity crises by conserving 30 percent of all U.S. lands and water by 2030 and promoting natural solutions to the climate crisis that benefit all communities

Restoring U.S. climate leadership on the global stage

By taking strong and equitable domestic action, we restore the ability to bring countries together to reduce emissions and help developing countries transition to carbon-neutral economies and adapt to inevitable impacts

By the numbers

$99B

The cost to U.S. taxpayers from extreme weather events in 2020—and it’s getting worse

CAP, “Extreme Weather Cost U.S. Taxpayers $99 Billion Last Year, and It Is Getting Worse” (2021).

139

The number of elected senators and representatives who still deny climate change

CAP, “Climate Deniers in the 117th Congress” (2021).

2°F

Human activity, largely burning fossil fuels, has warmed the planet this much since 1800s

The New York Times, “A Hotter Future Is Certain, Climate Panel Warns. But How Hot Is Up to Us.” (2021).

1M

The number of plant and animal species at risk of extinction around the world today

CAP, “How Much Nature Should America Keep?” (2019).

What You Can Do

Featured work

Latest

Why the Farm Bill May Be the Highest-Stakes Climate Fight Flying Below the Radar Report
A farmer harvests soybeans in a field along the Mississippi River.

Why the Farm Bill May Be the Highest-Stakes Climate Fight Flying Below the Radar

Major climate and conservation gains hang in the balance as Congress reauthorizes the expiring farm bill; passing strong legislation that builds on historic investments from the Inflation Reduction Act is critical for the United States to lead the world on climate-smart agriculture and meet national land conservation goals.

New Clean Vehicle Standards and Investments Improve Public Health, Fight Climate Change, and Build Domestic Supply Chains Testimony

New Clean Vehicle Standards and Investments Improve Public Health, Fight Climate Change, and Build Domestic Supply Chains

Shannon Baker-Branstetter, senior director of Domestic Climate and Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress, testified on the clean vehicle standards and federal EV investments, highlighting the consumer, grid, climate, and national security benefits of EVs.

The Inflation Reduction Act Is Building a Clean Energy Economy and Good-Paying Jobs Testimony

The Inflation Reduction Act Is Building a Clean Energy Economy and Good-Paying Jobs

Trevor Higgins, senior vice president of the Energy and Environment department at the Center for American Progress, filed written testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Minerals; the testimony is in support of the Inflation Reduction Act and its historic investments in American households and jobs aimed at accelerating the U.S. transition to a clean energy economy.

Trevor Higgins

‘Under the Pala Pala’: Special Edition Episode Video

‘Under the Pala Pala’: Special Edition Episode

In this special edition episode, six national marine sanctuary advocates came together for a storytelling event hosted by the Center for American Progress and the National Ocean Protection Coalition at the fifth International Marine Protected Area Congress in Vancouver, Canada, to talk Indigenous-led conservation.

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