Insights: WRI's Blog

In his final State of the Union address, President Barack Obama ranked the importance of a climate change strategy on a par with national security, economic equality and a more effective political process. Here are six steps his administration can take this year to cement its climate legacy.

"The shift to a clean energy economy is inevitable -- it's no longer a matter of if, but when," WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer writes. "Elected officials can make America a leader in this new clean energy future and ensure that Americans enjoy better health and a more vigorous economy."

As Secretary Kerry noted, Virginia's Hampton Roads area, experiencing increasing coastal flooding due to sea level rise, is a microcosm of the bigger risks facing our nation and world.

The frequency of days with “nuisance flooding,” or flooding that causes road closures, overwhelmed storm drains and other public inconveniences, has increased dramatically in many U.S. coastal cities since the mid-1960s—and the threats are worsening.

Mayors from across the U.S. political spectrum will gather in New Hampshire later this month to discuss ways to help their communities deal with rising seas, recurring coastal floods and the need for more leadership and support at the state and national levels.

The new U.S. Clean Power Plan requires Virginia to reduce its power sector emissions by 23 percent below 2012 levels by 2030. New analysis shows the state could go even further and harness economic opportunity at the same time.

China committed to establish a national emissions-trading program, while the United States announced new actions to help reduce its emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The U.S. Clean Power Plan’s impact on water has been largely overlooked, even though power plants account 45 percent of the country's water withdrawals.

As a former U.S. energy secretary, UN ambassador and governor of New Mexico, WRI Board Member Bill Richardson has watched the debate over the Clean Power Plan with keen interest. Here he explains how this common-sense rule to cut dangerous air pollution can help U.S. states and the national economy, while putting the United States in a leadership position in dealing with the international issue of climate change.

The final Clean Power Plan is an important step for the United States to meet its 2020 and 2025 emissions-reduction targets, but the nation will need additional steps that continue accelerating these trends in the power sector and across the economy to achieve its goals.