Insights: WRI's Blog

Lori Bird, Director of U.S. Energy at WRI, sits down with WRI Vice President for Communications Lawrence MacDonald to talk about the tech (batteries and rooftop solar), policy (net metering and RPS), movements and politics that are powering the renewables surge in the United States.

Even as climate negotiators in Poland laughed at the U.S. administration's promotion of fossil fuels, activists rallied for a Green New Deal in Washington. What they want is congressional support for climate action that would be embedded in the broader U.S. agenda of economic reform, public investment, job creation and social justice.

Andrew Wheeler, acting chief of the Trump administration's EPA, tried to discredit the findings of the latest U.S. National Climate Assessment, saying that they were skewed by highlighting worst-case scenarios of climate change impacts. His comments were inaccurate. Here's what the environmental agency should be doing.

Climate change was on ballots across America this week. The results were mixed but leave room for increased climate action in the next two years and beyond. What are the major climate stories to watch in the coming year?

Electric car sales hit U.S. records this year, with almost 66,000 sold just in July and August, more than double the number sold during the same period in 2017. Media campaigns can help spur this growing demand, but in the absence of federal leadership, automakers need to step up to support this low-emissions mode of transport.

Leaders from cities, states, provinces and businesses around the globe gathered in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit, showcasing their commitment to implementing the Paris Agreement. The summit is over but the push for greater climate action is rolling forward.

A new report from America's Pledge shows that states, cities and businesses are on track to reduce U.S. emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, approximately two-thirds of the way to the national pledge of cutting emissions 26-28 percent by 2025. And they could easily get even further.

In his first Insights post as Director, WRI United States, Dan Lashof focuses on some good news from California: a comprehensive suite of climate policies helped the Golden State meet its 2020 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions four years early, while California's economy grew.

New WRI research explores how the United States can design a carbon tax that improves the economy and achieves emissions-reduction goals.

President Trump announced one year ago that he would pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, other countries and U.S. states, cities and businesses have moved forward with climate action.