Policies with no climate action are out like skinny jeans and side parts

In the deepest dark of winter, optimism is rising across our country: U.S. climate policy is under new management, and can usher in a healthier, more equitable future. Policies with no climate action are out like skinny jeans and side parts.

And speaking of the generation that turns emojis into outfits 😂we're spilling the tea—this summer we're teaming up with Putney Pre-College to prepare high schoolers to be leaders in climate and public health in their communities through two week-long Youth Summits.

What are you most optimistic about? Let us know and we might feature you in a future newsletter.

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IMAGINE A DAY IN THE LIFE OF 2035

If we all work to implement the Biden administration's vision, what would a morning look like in 2035? We recommend a recent episode of The Daily from The New York Times:

All of your electricity comes from wind, solar, and nuclear.
Power plants are essentially gigantic batteries, slurping up renewable energy and storing it politely, emitting nary a belch of greenhouse gas.
Your car is now electric. But not necessarily a wee-dainty one—there will also be big, rugged ones that can pull things and carry stuff. ‘Merica!
Charging your EV will take as long as filling your gas car, and charging stations will still have snacks and Big Gulps.
Fewer extreme storms, wildfires, and droughts from eliminating fossil fuels.
Less pollution also means fewer asthma attacks, strokes, and heart attacks. Our Climate, Kids, and Health fact sheets imagine improvements in every category.

To create this healthier future, the focus is on cutting pollution from the three biggest sources—cars, power plants, and methane leaks from oil and gas wells.

Who’s leading the charge? Our former Director Gina McCarthy is the National Climate Policy Advisor working with every government agency to craft our domestic climate policies. She’ll deliver them to our former board member John Kerry, now the International Climate Envoy tasked with explaining our climate plans to world leaders and inviting them to work with us to meet their goals.

AN AMBITIOUS TIMELINE

All eyes are on the White House for the great unveiling of the United States’ contribution to cutting global emissions at the President’s Earth Day Climate Summit on April 22.

This month the U.S. officially rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement and the newly formed National Climate Task Force($)—composed of leaders from 21 federal agencies—began setting the goals to be announced at the Climate Summit.

They’ll focus on specific challenges like lowering the costs for:

Carbon-neutral construction materials
Carbon-free hydrogen
Zero-emissions refrigeration
Zero-carbon processes for making energy-intensive materials like cement
Farming techniques that absorb CO2
Retrofitting industrial and power plants with CO2 capture

If they nail it, it’ll be like we all won the Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right, only instead of winning a luxury vacation, we’ll get to stay alive on our planet!

BUT CAN WE AFFORD A HEALTHY FUTURE?

Shrewd shoppers want to ensure that the benefits of our climate policies outweigh the costs of implementing them.

Factory chugging pollution with dollar signs

Enter the social cost of carbon (SCC)—the dollar value rule makers assign to the damage every ton of CO2 emitted today will cause in the future. If the cost of repairing the damage exceeds the price of preventing it from happening, then the benefits are worth the cost.

Buckle up, Dear Optimists!

This month brought news that the SCC, which has been artificially low at ~$1/ton, could rise ($) to a more realistic ~$125/ton, tipping the balance sheets in favor of saving our planet.

Smarter Energy Investments

Our research with Syracuse, Resources for the Future, and Georgia Tech shows several energy policies—including clean energy standards, carbon prices, and a national cap and trade policy—can achieve low- or zero- carbon emissions in the electricity sector and major health gains by 2040 to 2050 that far outweigh costs.

DISMANTLING ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM

Environmental justice is taking a front seat in today’s climate policies.

On May 27, White House advisors will present recommendations for ensuring 40% of benefits from federal climate investments flow to frontline communities that suffer disproportionate health impacts from pollution and extreme weather due to housing, economic, and other policies rooted in systemic racism. Learn more about how Justice40 might work

The Donors of Color Network launched a campaign inviting U.S.-based climate philanthropists to increase their funding of BIPOC-led environmental justice groups to at least 30% within two years. Several have already taken the pledge. Learn more

ROLLING BACK THE ROLLBACKS

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin!

Court keeps 10 million acres off-limits to mining, protecting sage grouse habitat. Cue the mood music—tourists flock to see their PBS-worthy mating rituals
Court tossed out the “secret science” rule; studies underpinning our most protective public health regulations are back in
Court took final action to undo ($) the Affordable Clean Energy rule
Permitting for a major offshore wind project is back on the table and could power 400k Massachusetts homes
A rule allowing companies cheap access to drilling on public lands and waters is delayed

PREVENTING PANDEMICS

We don't want to brag, but we're going to anyway.

We played a critical role in helping Last Week Tonight With John Oliver launch its new season with an episode exploring how human activities have contributed to the rise of infectious diseases and what we can do to prevent the next pandemic.

Watch now for some clever—if not entirely safe for work—content in true John Oliver style.

Don’t miss: Our Director Dr. Aaron Bernstein's Q&A on how climate and Covid are connected, and his not-at-all cheesy interview on Cheddar about the same.