Climate Change

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the United States—and the world—over the next decade and beyond. The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other human activities raise global temperatures with costly and deadly impacts, including extreme heat, droughts, storms, wildfires, sea-level rise, and more. This devastation disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities and low-income areas, exacerbating existing social and economic inequalities.

To mitigate these effects and protect communities, it is imperative that the United States transition to clean energy sources, implement sustainable land use practices, and invest in climate resilient infrastructure.

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in 2022, lays the foundation for building a 100 percent clean energy economy by investing in clean energy development and deployment, green infrastructure, and sustainable transportation. The Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits and rebate programs allow people to affordably upgrade and electrify their homes, businesses, appliances, and vehicles—slashing climate pollution, creating new clean energy jobs, and saving families money on their energy bills.

The Center for American Progress recognizes the urgent need to reduce emissions and transition to a clean energy economy—one built with good-paying union jobs and centered on racial justice. Leaders must act quickly and decisively.

Flooded houses and cars are seen after Hurricane Florence in Wallace, North Carolina, September 16, 2018. (Getty/Atlgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency)

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FEMA Was a Lifeline After Hurricane Helene Decimated What Was Once Considered a ‘Climate Haven’ Video

FEMA Was a Lifeline After Hurricane Helene Decimated What Was Once Considered a ‘Climate Haven’

The Center for American Progress' award-winning documentary, "Asheville is Calling: A Climate Change Emergency," centers on Colleen Daly, an Asheville, North Carolina, native and small-business owner who lost her home and nearly lost her business to Hurricane Helene. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided the essential lifeline that got her through the immediate crisis, seven months later, she and her community were still struggling to rebuild.

The Long Game on Energy Affordability Report
Electrical transmission lines hang over a housing development in Sylmar.

The Long Game on Energy Affordability

As electricity costs rise and states make important decisions about energy affordability, the most successful approaches protect consumers today while continuing to invest in energy efficiency and clean energy resources that lower bills over time.

Frederick Bell

CAP Testimony Before the House Committee on Small Business’s Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains Subcommittee Testimony

CAP Testimony Before the House Committee on Small Business’s Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains Subcommittee

Trevor Higgins, senior vice president for Energy and Environment, testified before the House Committee on Small Business's Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains Subcommittee at a hearing titled “Fueling the Golden Age: Future Resource Needs and Small Business Opportunity.”

Trevor Higgins

How Trump’s Cuts to FEMA and NWS Are Leaving Communities Defenseless Against Extreme Weather Disasters Article
A worker in FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center looks at a map of an approaching winter storm.

How Trump’s Cuts to FEMA and NWS Are Leaving Communities Defenseless Against Extreme Weather Disasters

Federal agencies help Americans prepare for, survive, and recover from extreme weather disasters, but the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Federal Emergency Management Agency weaken that lifeline at every stage of a storm.

Hoja informativa: Un plan para hacer la electricidad más asequible en EE. UU. Hoja informativa

Hoja informativa: Un plan para hacer la electricidad más asequible en EE. UU.

El plan de CAP ahorraría a los hogares más de $900 en costos de energía durante cuatro años, a la vez que construiría un mejor sistema energético que ahorraría a las familias estadounidenses miles de millones en los años venideros.

Trevor Higgins, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Michael Negron, 2 More Lucero Marquez, Kendra Hughes

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Related Priorities

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice
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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.

Strengthening Health
Issue

Strengthening Health

We work to strengthen public health systems and improve health care coverage, access, and affordability.

Building an Economy for All
Issue

Building an Economy for All

Economic growth must be built on the foundation of a strong and secure middle class so that all Americans benefit from growth.

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice
Issue

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice

We apply a racial equity lens in developing and advancing policies that aim to root out entrenched systemic racism to ensure everyone has an opportunity to thrive.

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