Energy and Environment

Conservation Policy

We work to protect our lands, ocean, and wildlife; tackle climate change and nature loss; connect people to the benefits of nature; and ensure America’s lands and waters support resilient, just, and inclusive economies.

Bald eagles fishing in China Poot Bay, Alaska. (Getty/Louise Heusinkveld/Photodisc)

Proactively conserve lands, freshwater, and ocean

Conserve 30 percent of lands, waters, and ocean by 2030

Natural areas across the country are being lost at an alarming rate, wildlife populations are in danger, and nearshore ocean habitats are increasingly under threat. To halt and reverse nature loss and provide more opportunities to experience America’s great outdoors, we work with a diverse coalition to achieve on-the-ground conservation outcomes that benefit nature, the climate, and communities.

Unrig the system to ensure public lands and waters benefit the public

America’s public lands and waters should benefit everyone, but an increasingly rigged system puts the interests of corporate polluters ahead of the public’s. We advocate for systemic policy reform to ensure America’s public places aren’t rigged against communities and instead ensure that our lands, waters, and ocean can be used for the common good.

Confront racial and economic disparities in access to nature

Communities of color and low-income communities disproportionately lack access to nature, while also bearing the impacts of its destruction. At the same time, parks are overcrowded and American communities are increasingly disconnected with nature’s benefits. We work to increase access to nature and connect all Americans to the benefits that nature provides.

Advocate for conservation and energy solutions that help communities prosper

Many communities are reliant on revenue from natural resource extraction, locked into vicious cycles that leave them weathering the impacts with few benefits. We advance policies that ensure communities experience the benefits of American natural resources—including better services, lower bills, stronger and more resilient economies, and healthier nature.

The Conservation Policy team works to protect our lands, waters, ocean, and wildlife to address the linked climate and biodiversity crises, boost the economy, and benefit all.

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Recent Work

Latest

Compact View

The Nature Gap: Communities of Color and Those With Low Incomes Are Bearing the Brunt of America’s Nature Loss Report
Chemical plants and factories line the roads and suburbs of

The Nature Gap: Communities of Color and Those With Low Incomes Are Bearing the Brunt of America’s Nature Loss

New analysis reveals persistent environmental inequality in the United States. Communities of color are three times more likely than white communities to live in nature-deprived areas, and three-quarters of residents of these areas have low household incomes.

Fact Sheet: The Nature Gap: Communities of Color and Those With Low Incomes Are Bearing the Brunt of America’s Nature Loss Fact Sheet
A house is seen with a chemical plant in the background in Louisiana's

Fact Sheet: The Nature Gap: Communities of Color and Those With Low Incomes Are Bearing the Brunt of America’s Nature Loss

New analysis from Conservation Science Partners, the Center for American Progress, and Justice Outside reveals persistent inequality in nearby nature in the United States.

Fact Sheet: 5 Hidden Ways the Government Rigs the Market in Favor of Fossil Fuels Fact Sheet
The Houston skyline is seen from an oil refinery.

Fact Sheet: 5 Hidden Ways the Government Rigs the Market in Favor of Fossil Fuels

Contrary to the Trump administration’s claims, fossil fuel industries have benefited heavily from government subsidies in the form of direct tax incentives, steep discounts on public lands, reduced permitting barriers, government services, and lack of accountability for their pollution and public health impacts.

5 Hidden Ways the Government Rigs the Market in Favor of Fossil Fuels Report
Pumpjacks lift oil from wells at an oil field near Taft, California, on October 17, 2025.

5 Hidden Ways the Government Rigs the Market in Favor of Fossil Fuels

While renewables have received scrutiny from the Trump administration and congressional Republicans over subsidies, the administration’s narrative hides how fossil fuel industries reap the benefits of a distorted market that has made Americans pay more for polluting fossil energy for decades.

Applying Indigenous Wisdom to Deep-Sea Mining In the News

Applying Indigenous Wisdom to Deep-Sea Mining

In an op-ed published by DC Journal, Angelo Villagomez discusses the Trump administration’s reckless push to allow deep-sea mining in the U.S. Pacific territories.

DC Journal

Angelo Villagomez

Should the U.S. Drill for More Oil and Gas? In the News

Should the U.S. Drill for More Oil and Gas?

Upfront published a debate between CAP’s Jenny Rowland and the president of an industry trade group about whether the United States should continue drilling for oil and gas or invest in a clean energy future.

Upfront

Jenny Rowland-Shea, Melissa Simpson

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