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

Improving Safety, Accident Response, and Public Health in the Wake of Recent Train Derailments Article
Damaged tanks after train derailment with trees in background

Improving Safety, Accident Response, and Public Health in the Wake of Recent Train Derailments

A comprehensive response to the East Palestine derailment must include safety reforms that will reduce the frequency and severity of future derailments; improve long-term health monitoring and access to health services; and reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals, including petrochemicals, from the U.S. economy.

Kevin DeGood

What the U.S. Must Bring to the 2023 U.N. Loss and Damage Negotiations To Address Climate Change Impacts Article
Photo shows people at the edge of a road town apart by flooding, with a giant crater in between the broken sides.

What the U.S. Must Bring to the 2023 U.N. Loss and Damage Negotiations To Address Climate Change Impacts

The United States must show up to loss and damage discussions this year with solidarity, constructive negotiating positions, and credible finance solutions so that the world can not only address the losses and damages of climate change, but also continue to pursue ambitious climate mitigation goals.

Cassidy Childs

Sacred Stories: Indigenous-led Conservation of Lands and Waterways Past Event

Sacred Stories: Indigenous-led Conservation of Lands and Waterways

Please join the Center for American Progress, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and the Biodiversity Funders Group for a panel of storytellers discussing Indigenous-led conservation of lands and waterways.

Tolls on state highways would ease gas tax shortfall In the News

Tolls on state highways would ease gas tax shortfall

Kevin DeGood explains why a well-designed, sophisticated tolling system in Michigan would not only ease revenue shortfalls but also allow the state’s highways to run more efficiently.

Kevin DeGood

Protecting Avi Kwa Ame as a National Monument Would Honor Tribes and Increase Access to Nature Article
Photo shows Avi Kwa Ame at night, against a background of a starry sky.

Protecting Avi Kwa Ame as a National Monument Would Honor Tribes and Increase Access to Nature

President Biden must use the Antiquities Act to designate Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument. He faces a critical opportunity to honor ancient sacred lands; conserve ecologically important sites; advance the administration’s 30x30 goal; and enact community-led conservation to close the nature gap.

Sam Zeno

How the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity Can Respond to the Health Threats of the Climate Crisis Report

How the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity Can Respond to the Health Threats of the Climate Crisis

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity must elevate the health and environmental justice implications of the climate crisis and provide the connective tissue needed to harness resources, leverage authorities, and coordinate federal expertise.

Proposed National Marine Sanctuaries Provide a Pathway Toward Indigenous-Led Ocean Conservation Report
Three large turtles rest above the waterline on a white-sand beach.

Proposed National Marine Sanctuaries Provide a Pathway Toward Indigenous-Led Ocean Conservation

The United States can move closer to its dual goals of increasing access to nature for all Americans and protecting 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030 by approving and completing the designation of five new Indigenous-led marine sanctuaries.

Anuka Upadhye, Zainab Mirza, Angelo Villagomez

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