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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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Child Care Professionals Are on the Front Lines as Climate Change Risks Children’s Health and Development Report
A teacher prepares a classroom at Woodbury Village Preschool that sustained smoke damage during the Eaton fire in Altadena, California

Child Care Professionals Are on the Front Lines as Climate Change Risks Children’s Health and Development

Amid a changing climate and federal rollbacks to disaster relief and preparedness, early educators face an increasingly untenable child care landscape that will require state and local action.

Hailey Gibbs, Nadia Gronkowski, Hester Paul, 2 More Joan Lombardi, Ph.D., Nsedu Obot Witherspoon

The Trump Administration’s Expansive Push to Sell Out Public Lands to the Highest Bidder Report
An oil pumpjack operates in the Great Plains of southeastern Wyoming.

The Trump Administration’s Expansive Push to Sell Out Public Lands to the Highest Bidder

After bipartisan opposition forced Senate Republicans to remove language from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would have sold off public lands, the Trump administration is still moving forward with proposals to transfer control over tens of millions of acres of public land to the oil and gas, mining, and timber industries.

Drew McConville, Mariel Lutz, Jenny Rowland-Shea

A multilateral approach to climate and trade policy could revolutionize efforts to decarbonize heavy industries and counter non market overcapacity In the News

A multilateral approach to climate and trade policy could revolutionize efforts to decarbonize heavy industries and counter non market overcapacity

In an op-ed published by Renewal, Ryan Mulholland and Mike Williams argue in favor of cooperative action on challenges like climate change.

Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy

Ryan Mulholland, Mike Williams

The Trump Administration’s Attack on Environmental Protections Will Increase Cancer-Causing Pollution Report
In the background of the view of a residential street, smokestacks at the Hugh L. Spurlock Generating Station are seen in Maysville, Kentucky.

The Trump Administration’s Attack on Environmental Protections Will Increase Cancer-Causing Pollution

The Trump administration’s plan to torpedo air pollution limits and cancer prevention programs while ripping away health care and cancer treatment and canceling clean energy investments will increase preventable cancer cases among Americans—all to enhance polluters’ profits and cut taxes for the superrich.

Cathleen Kelly, Leo Banks, Jill Rosenthal

Residents in at Least 41 States and Washington, D.C., Are Facing Increased Electric and Natural Gas Bills Article

Residents in at Least 41 States and Washington, D.C., Are Facing Increased Electric and Natural Gas Bills

Energy bill tracker documents rate increases and proposals that would go into effect in 2025 or 2026. The Trump administration’s actions to discourage clean energy projects could send rates even higher.

Akshay Thyagarajan, Jamie Friedman, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, 1 More Lucero Marquez

Trump’s ‘Energy Dominance’ Means Payouts to the Oil and Gas Industry In the News

Trump’s ‘Energy Dominance’ Means Payouts to the Oil and Gas Industry

In an op-ed published by The National Interest, Kendra Hughes and Lucero Marquez assert that President Trump's vision of "energy dominance" offers giveaways to the fossil fuel industry instead of the affordable, reliable, and domestically produced energy that America needs.

The National Interest

Kendra Hughes, Lucero Marquez

About Extreme Heat, We Need to Prioritize Children In the News

About Extreme Heat, We Need to Prioritize Children

In an op-ed published by InsideSources, Hailey Gibbs highlights proven strategies that communities and policymakers can adopt to better mitigate the deadly effects of climate change for young children and infants.

InsideSources

Hailey Gibbs

What Trump’s Anti-Environment One Big Beautiful Bill Act Means for Your Wallet, Health, and Safety Article

What Trump’s Anti-Environment One Big Beautiful Bill Act Means for Your Wallet, Health, and Safety

In addition to cutting health care and food assistance programs, the act’s energy and environmental provisions would raise energy costs, increase pollution affecting Americans’ health, and increase safety risks in a worsening climate.

Lucero Marquez, Jasia Smith

The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act Endangers the Transformation of Contaminated Sites for Clean Energy Production Article
Rows of solar panels dominate land behind homes in Chicago.

The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act Endangers the Transformation of Contaminated Sites for Clean Energy Production

The congressional Republican spending bill, which President Donald Trump recently signed into law, kills tax credits that help communities turn idle toxic sites such as brownfields and abandoned mines into sources of clean energy and revenue.

Alia Hidayat, Dylan Nezaj

With Americans Facing Utility Bill Increases This Year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Threatens To Drive Costs Even Higher Article
A utility lineman works to restore service in Perry, Florida

With Americans Facing Utility Bill Increases This Year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Threatens To Drive Costs Even Higher

Across the country, nearly 60 electric and gas utilities are hiking or trying to hike utility bills this year, totaling nearly $38.3 billion for 56.7 million electric customers and $3.5 billion for 26 million natural gas customers; if the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passes, these bills will spike even higher.

Akshay Thyagarajan, Shannon Baker-Branstetter

LNG Projects Are a Bad Deal for Germans and Americans Report
Workers watch the sun set behind an LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven.

LNG Projects Are a Bad Deal for Germans and Americans

Subsidizing fossil gas, especially long-term contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG), undermines Germany’s energy independence, national security, public health, and climate goals, while also raising energy prices and pollution for Americans. On the other hand, accelerating the deployment of affordable and cleaner technologies across sectors could lower costs and pollution.

Milena Pressentin, Josefin Schmidt, Julian Schwartzkopff, 3 More Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Jasia Smith, Akshay Thyagarajan

The Trump Administration’s Assault on Environmental Protections Will Give Polluters a Free Pass While Causing Millions of Asthma Attacks Report
Cars sit in traffic as the sun sets behind a veil of smog.

The Trump Administration’s Assault on Environmental Protections Will Give Polluters a Free Pass While Causing Millions of Asthma Attacks

The Trump administration’s plan to weaken clean air protections could cause more than 10,000 asthma attacks per day while cutting lifesaving asthma prevention programs and as House Republicans seek to slash pollution reduction efforts, clean technology investments, and essential health care coverage—all to give tax breaks to billionaires.

Cathleen Kelly, Jill Rosenthal, Leo Banks

House Republicans Are Giving Up on U.S. Manufacturing Article
Electric vehicles are seen on the assembly line.

House Republicans Are Giving Up on U.S. Manufacturing

Claims from congressional Republicans and the Trump administration that supporting domestic manufacturing is a priority are completely undercut by their efforts to strip incentives and kill successful programs.

Mike Williams, Leo Banks

The House Republican Plan To Increase Gas and Electricity Prices Article

The House Republican Plan To Increase Gas and Electricity Prices

Terminating almost all federal clean energy investments will increase electricity rates and raise the price of gasoline by between 25 cents and 37 cents per gallon, costing households more than $400 billion on energy over the next decade.

Trevor Higgins

Managing the Climate Change-Fueled Insurance Crisis Past Event

Managing the Climate Change-Fueled Insurance Crisis

Please join the Center for American Progress for a virtual event featuring keynote remarks from U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and a panel of experts who will discuss the interconnected issues and potential solutions of the climate change-fueled insurance crisis.

Online only

Managing the Climate Change-Fueled Property Insurance Crisis Report
A couple stands to the left of the remains of a home burned down in January 2025 during a massive wildfire in and around Los Angeles.

Managing the Climate Change-Fueled Property Insurance Crisis

As private insurers pull back services in the face of mounting losses, governments are looking to spread the costs of more frequent and severe natural disasters while confronting insurance availability and affordability challenges.

Lilith Fellowes-Granda, Marc Jarsulic, Alexandra Thornton

How the Trump Administration’s Agenda To Eliminate Environmental Protections and Promote the Fossil Fuel Industry Harms Public Health Fact Sheet
A view of DTE Energy's River Rouge power plant in Michigan.

How the Trump Administration’s Agenda To Eliminate Environmental Protections and Promote the Fossil Fuel Industry Harms Public Health

The Trump administration’s plan to abandon environmental and public health safeguards threatens the health and lives of Americans while lining the pockets of corporate polluters.

Cathleen Kelly, Jasia Smith

The Trump Administration’s Cancellation of Funding for Environmental Protections Endangers Americans’ Health While Draining Their Wallets Fact Sheet
People walk in Central Park amid hazy conditions in New York City.

The Trump Administration’s Cancellation of Funding for Environmental Protections Endangers Americans’ Health While Draining Their Wallets

The Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate environmental protections and funds that reduce pollution in working-class communities threaten public health and increase costs for families.

Cathleen Kelly, Jasia Smith

Prioritize Community Needs Over Politics In the News

Prioritize Community Needs Over Politics

In an op-ed published by InsideSources, Margaret Cooney writes about the wildfires in Los Angeles and describes the practical ways local policymakers can better prepare to offset the effects of climate change.

InsideSources

Margaret Cooney

Highlights from ‘State Efforts To Decarbonize Key Industrial Sectors’ Video

Highlights from ‘State Efforts To Decarbonize Key Industrial Sectors’

The Center for American Progress held a virtual event that explored state policy efforts to decarbonize and detoxify the production of construction materials and discussed lessons learned from policy implementation.

Jamie Friedman, Reema Bzeih, Matthew Gossage

The Trump Administration’s Retreat From Global Climate Leadership Article
U.S. President Donald Trump holds an executive order announcing the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement .

The Trump Administration’s Retreat From Global Climate Leadership

President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement marks a deliberate weakening of the multilateral system, jeopardizing global efforts to combat the climate crisis and risking America’s economic and environmental future.

Kalina Gibson

State Efforts To Decarbonize Key Industrial Sectors Past Event

State Efforts To Decarbonize Key Industrial Sectors

Please join the Center for American Progress for a virtual event that will explore state policy efforts to decarbonize and detoxify the production of construction materials, and lessons learned from policy implementation.

Online only

States Must Lead the Way on Climate Report
Photo shows two workers in protective gear installing a large solar panel on a while roof with a body of water in the background

States Must Lead the Way on Climate

State governments must step up to help avoid the worst impacts of climate change and build a more prosperous, inclusive, and globally competitive American clean energy economy.

Reema Bzeih, Sam Ricketts, Shannon Baker-Branstetter

Protecting Public Land Revenue-Sharing Governments From the Fiscal Risks of Economic Transitions Report
Joshua Tree National Park

Protecting Public Land Revenue-Sharing Governments From the Fiscal Risks of Economic Transitions

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of state, local, and Tribal governments’ dependence on payments tied to resource extraction on public lands. The Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund offered a temporary solution and a framework for a permanent one.

Sharon Ferguson, Mark Haggerty

Climate Change Jeopardizes HIV Care in the U.S. Article
Photo shows a black and white sign reading

Climate Change Jeopardizes HIV Care in the U.S.

Policymakers and public health officials need to take steps to integrate climate resilience in HIV/AIDS health care programs to mitigate the disproportionate impact that extreme weather events have on people living with HIV.

Haley Norris

Official COP29 Side Event: Climate, Trade, and Industrial Policy: How Policies in Global North and Global South Economies Are Driving Decarbonization Past Event

Official COP29 Side Event: Climate, Trade, and Industrial Policy: How Policies in Global North and Global South Economies Are Driving Decarbonization

The Center for American Progress, the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, Resources for the Future, and Australian National University are excited to host this official UNFCCC COP29 side event in Baku.

Blue Zone, Side event room 4, COP29, Baku, Azerbaijan

2024 Elections and the Future of Global Climate Ambition Report
Cranes surround the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, England.

2024 Elections and the Future of Global Climate Ambition

As the 2024 elections usher in new leaders and reshuffle political power, the trajectory of climate ambition is at a crossroads, with the potential to accelerate toward meaningful progress or falter in the face of new obstacles.

Kalina Gibson

A Day in the Life of Climate Activist Adrian Arellano Video

A Day in the Life of Climate Activist Adrian Arellano

Spend a day with Adrian Arellano, manager for climate initiatives at NextGen America, as he attends New York Climate Week events and talks about the importance of climate action to Latinos, how the Biden-Harris administration climate investments are benefiting the community, and how Project 2025 is a threat to climate action and future generations.

Jessica Ordóñez-Lancet, Margaret Cooney, Hai-Lam Phan, 2 More Adam Reich, Toni Pandolfo

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Related Priorities

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice
Issue

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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