Departments

Energy and Environment

Charting an equitable and just path to a 100 percent clean economy with net-zero climate pollution, protection of 30 percent of lands and waters, and community investments

Solar photovoltaic power plant farm installation. (Getty/Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket)

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 good-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 working with a diverse coalition of states, tribes, and local stakeholders to conserve 30 percent of all U.S. lands and water by 2030 and promote natural solutions to the climate crisis that benefit all communities

Restoring U.S. climate leadership on the global stage

By urging strong and equitable domestic ambition for the U.S. government, restoring the United States to international leadership on climate action through bold emission reductions targets and plans to get there, climate finance, and strategic partnerships across the world

Partners & Coalitions

The Energy and Environment Department engages with national, international, state, local, tribal, and environmental justice advocates to support the goals of climate, economic, environmental, and racial justice; bridge the gap between advocacy and action; and implement just and effective policies.

Climate Action Campaign

The CAC is a coalition of major national environment, environmental justice, and public health groups, working together to drive ambitious federal action to address the climate crisis.

Equitable and Just National Climate Platform

This coalition of environmental justice and national organizations advances economic, racial, and environmental justice to improve all communities’ well-being.

National Ocean Protection Coalition (NOPC)

The NOPC supports and implements ocean policies that balance a variety of environmental, commercial, industrial, recreational, and infrastructure interests.

Ocean Justice Forum

The forum works to create and advance an ambitious ocean policy agenda that promotes the goals of economic, racial, climate, and environmental justice.

Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign (ARDC)

The ARDC is a coalition of Alaska Native, climate, and conservation groups that works to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling.

Featured work

About our department

The Energy and Environment Department will build agreement around the climate change and conservation crises, with a focus on the demonstrable impacts people feel now to build urgency to act. We will deepen and expand our coalition, both domestic and in key foreign countries, around the scope of the challenges, and we will work on our own and with our partners to create ambitious, equitable, and just policies to protect  lands; oceans; and the health, safety, and prosperity of all communities. This includes addressing systemic racism and economic inequality, reducing pollution and its cumulative impacts in communities of color and low-income communities, and measurably improving the lives of people in the near term through our policies as we address environmental challenges. We will work with partners in key foreign countries to build agreement on agendas for ambitious global action, which will further bolster domestic support for action at home. To achieve our goals, we must confront fossil fuel corporations and their allies that are standing in the way of Americans’ desire to safeguard the planet and the survival and well-being of all life on earth.

Latest

Compact View

How the Inflation Reduction Act Will Drive Global Climate Action Article
A group of protesters march through the streets of New York City to demand action on the global climate crisis.

How the Inflation Reduction Act Will Drive Global Climate Action

The Inflation Reduction Act puts the United States on track to meeting its Paris Agreement commitment and to reclaiming the mantle of global climate leadership.

the Center for American Progress

Frances Colón, Anne Christianson, Cassidy Childs

5 Major Benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Climate Investments Fact Sheet
Solar panels are seen on a hilltop near Santa Ynez, California.

5 Major Benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Climate Investments

The Inflation Reduction Act’s $369 billion in climate investments won’t just tackle climate change; they will save families money, create millions of good jobs, and reduce pollution over the next decade.

the Center for American Progress

Trevor Higgins, Sally Hardin

Earth Day Special: Christy Goldfuss on the Climate and Clean Energy Podcast

Earth Day Special: Christy Goldfuss on the Climate and Clean Energy

This week on "The Tent," Daniella and Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president of Energy and Environment at the Center for American Progress, discuss recent climate research, the state of climate legislation, and what Democrats can do to prepare for the midterm elections.

The Clean Economy Revolution Will Be Unionized: A Road Map From States on Creating Good, Union Jobs To Build the Clean Energy Economy Article

The Clean Economy Revolution Will Be Unionized: A Road Map From States on Creating Good, Union Jobs To Build the Clean Energy Economy

State and local progress can inform federal action to support high-quality, union jobs building the clean economy.

Center for American Progress

Rita Cliffton, Malkie Wall, Sam Ricketts, 3 More Kevin Lee, Jessica Eckdish, Karla Walter

Electric Vehicles Should Be a Win for American Workers Article
 (A red CAP logo with stars and stripes.)

Electric Vehicles Should Be a Win for American Workers

The authors argue that federal policymakers must invest in domestic electric vehicle production and deployment now in order to support high-quality American jobs, cut greenhouse gas emissions over the long term, and ensure national competitiveness in a key area of growth.

Center for American Progress

Karla Walter, Trevor Higgins, Bidisha Bhattacharyya, 2 More Malkie Wall, Rita Cliffton

Trump gutted protections for the Atlantic’s only marine monument — now what? In the News

Trump gutted protections for the Atlantic’s only marine monument — now what?

Miriam Goldstein explains the importance of establishing additional marine protected areas after President Donald Trump's gutted protections for the Atlantic's only marine monument.

The Boston Globe

Miriam Goldstein

Congress Must Do More to Counter Trump Administration’s Assault on Climate Science Article
 (A blue CAP logo with stars and stripes.)

Congress Must Do More to Counter Trump Administration’s Assault on Climate Science

Bianca Majumder and Kristina Costa argue for Congress to use the appropriations process to combat the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the federal climate apparatus.

Center for American Progress

Bianca Majumder, Kristina Costa

How Marine Protected Areas Help Fisheries and Ocean Ecosystems Article
 (A blue CAP logo with stars and stripes.)

How Marine Protected Areas Help Fisheries and Ocean Ecosystems

Margaret Cooney, Miriam Goldstein, and Emma Shapiro emphasize the importance of marine protected areas in preserving regions' biodiversity and fisheries.

Center for American Progress

Margaret Cooney, Miriam Goldstein, Emma Shapiro

12 Climate Wins From the National Environmental Policy Act Article
 (A blue CAP logo with stars and stripes.)

12 Climate Wins From the National Environmental Policy Act

Christy Goldfuss, Sally Hardin, and Marc Rehmann outline 12 court cases in which NEPA has pushed for courts to consider the environmental effects—specifically, greenhouse gas emissions—of their decisions.

Center for American Progress

Christy Goldfuss, Sally Hardin, Marc Rehmann

Climate Deniers in the 116th Congress Interactive
The morning sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 2014. (Getty/Mark Wilson)

Climate Deniers in the 116th Congress

A new CAP Action analysis finds that 150 members—and 60 percent of Republicans—in the 116th Congress do not believe in climate change.

Sally Hardin, Claire Moser

Big Oil’s Central Role in the Trump Administration’s Culture of Corruption Article
Vehicles move along the the New Jersey Turnpike while a factory emits smoke in Carteret, New Jersey, November 2017. (Getty/Corbis/VIEWpress/Kena Betancur)

Big Oil’s Central Role in the Trump Administration’s Culture of Corruption

After spending $220 million on lobbying Congress and in political donations since President Donald Trump took office, the oil and gas industry is set to get $200 billion in profits from the proposed rollback of the Obama-era clean car standards.

Sally Hardin

Governors’ Races that Matter for Climate Action Report

Governors’ Races that Matter for Climate Action

In the next year, seven states will present voters a choice to change direction on climate action and oppose President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Luke Bassett, Christy Goldfuss

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