Energy Security and Climate Initiative

[On climate change] It's never been easier to cut greenhouse gas pollution. This is a momentum game. The faster we act, the easier it gets.Unfortunately, we are not moving fast enough.

Federal climate policy is shifting into reverse.

[On action on climate change] This is a momentum game. The faster we act, the easier it gets. Bigger markets open up, including to exports. The virtuous cycle spurs incredible progress…We need to scale out zero-carbon electricity, broadly electrify vehicles and buildings. Solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere directly will soon play a bigger role.

[On the politics of climate impacts in the U.S.] The political alignment around climate impacts is almost the exact opposite of the political alignment around emissions control.

[On the geographic distribution of climate impacts in the U.S.] The damages to the Republican-electing congressional districts is almost double what it is for the Democratic-voting districts.

[On Brookings research on climate impacts and human health] When you look at the out years, all of these factors have an impact on what people care about, but the really dominant effect is mortality. Literally, there’ll be climate change killing people.

[On the geographic distribution of economic harms from climate impacts in the U.S.] The swing states are what’s interesting, so Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico to some degree. These are places where you can see greater attention to climate impacts resulting in a shift in attitude that alters the political landscape.

[On new research on the economic harms of climate change] The dominant cost to the economy of climate change is [human] mortality from excessive heat.