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

Center for American Progress

Boldly Forward

Celebrate with us

By the numbers

$177.6B

The cost to U.S. taxpayers from extreme weather events in 2022

National Centers for Environmental Information

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

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Clean Energy Investments Are Boosting the U.S. Economy Testimony

Clean Energy Investments Are Boosting the U.S. Economy

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 Energy, Climate, and Grid Security; the testimony occurred at a hearing on energy costs titled “From Gas to Groceries: Americans Pay the Price of the Biden-Harris Energy Agenda.”

Trevor Higgins

Hear From a Pediatrician: How Extreme Heat Endangers Children’s Health and What We Can Do About It Video

Hear From a Pediatrician: How Extreme Heat Endangers Children’s Health and What We Can Do About It

Dr. Debra Hendrickson, clinical professor of pediatrics and author of The Air They Breathe, explains the risks extreme heat and climate change pose to children's health and the actions parents, communities, and policymakers can take to protect them.

America and India’s Green Trade Opportunity In the News

America and India’s Green Trade Opportunity

In Foreign Affairs, Trevor Sutton and Arunabha Ghosh write about partnership opportunities between the United States and India.

Foreign Affairs

Trevor Sutton, Arunabha Ghosh

Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Global Climate Action Article
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry arrives on stage to deliver a speech.

Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Global Climate Action

During a critical decade for climate action, Project 2025’s architects call for an end to American climate leadership on the international stage, which would harm Americans and prevent the global community from achieving climate goals necessary to maintain a livable planet.

A Holistic Approach to Environmental Justice Video

A Holistic Approach to Environmental Justice

The Friendship House Association of American Indians is using Inflation Reduction Act funds to support the building of Village SF, an inter-Tribal community project that will help the more than 18,000 Indigenous peoples in the San Francisco Bay Area reconnect with nature, their culture, and their community.

How Project 2025 Threatens the Inflation Reduction Act’s Thriving Clean Energy Economy Report
Photo shows two workers wearing protective gear installing a couple solar panels on a sunny rooftop

How Project 2025 Threatens the Inflation Reduction Act’s Thriving Clean Energy Economy

As the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act is commemorated, the Biden-Harris administration's historic climate action offers much to celebrate, having secured unprecedented clean energy advancements and substantial gains against climate change—but Project 2025 has the potential to reverse this pivotal progress and derail the nation's clean energy transition.

AGOA Reauthorization Offers an Opportunity for Expanded Commitments to Development, Labor, and Climate in Sub-Saharan Africa Article
Photo shows workers in bright green construction vests and yellow hats setting up a metal frame with a truck in the background

AGOA Reauthorization Offers an Opportunity for Expanded Commitments to Development, Labor, and Climate in Sub-Saharan Africa

Congress faces a critical opportunity to support workers in the United States and Africa while diversifying supply chains and protecting the climate by authorizing a strengthened African Growth and Opportunity Act next year.

Organized Labor Is Uncovering the Truth About Offshore Wind in Rhode Island Video

Organized Labor Is Uncovering the Truth About Offshore Wind in Rhode Island

On the front lines of the clean energy transition, Rhode Island’s offshore wind developments and union workforce are disproving misinformation spread by the fossil fuel industry and showcasing the benefits of federal climate investments for local communities and economies.

Executive Summary: Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development Fact Sheet
The sun sets in New York City as children cool off.

Executive Summary: Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center of American Progress report highlighting the need for policymakers to take steps to develop heat standards for children and support infrastructure improvements to ensure schools, child care centers, and communities are safe and healthy places for children.

Climate Deniers of the 118th Congress Report
Photo shows a partly open black fence with the U.S. Capitol building in focus in the background

Climate Deniers of the 118th Congress

Currently, 123 members of the 118th Congress publicly deny the scientific consensus of human-caused climate change.

Kat So

Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development Report
Children cool off by playing in a fountain in Brooklyn’s Domino Park, New York, during a heat wave.

Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development

As climate change intensifies extreme heat around the globe, policymakers must take steps to develop heat standards for children and support infrastructure improvements to ensure schools, child care centers, and communities are safe and healthy places for children.

Historic Investments in Electric Vehicle Batteries and Chargers are Expanding Opportunities in Communities with High Poverty Rates Article
An electric car is plugged into a charging station with a palm tree in the background.

Historic Investments in Electric Vehicle Batteries and Chargers are Expanding Opportunities in Communities with High Poverty Rates

Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, communities with higher poverty rates and lower median incomes have seen a surge of investment in manufacturing EV batteries and charging equipment.

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