About U.S. Federal Action on Climate Change

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change seeks to inform the design and implementation of federal policies that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Drawing from its extensive peer-reviewed published works, in-house analyses on the design of climate change policies, and tracking of current legislative proposals, the Center provides research, analysis, and recommendations to policymakers in both Congress and the Executive Branch.

The Center released its Agenda for Climate Action [1] in 2006, recommending a comprehensive look at the steps that must be taken throughout the economy in order to put the U.S. on a climate-friendly path. In addition, the Center is a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) [2] — a coalition of 25 businesses and 5 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supporting mandatory policies to address climate change.

The Pew Center regularly meets with members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and their staff to discuss climate science, impacts, economics, policy, and legislation.  The Pew Center also holds widely-attended congressional briefings on these topics, often bringing in experts from academia, business, and government to provide a broad range of perspectives.

In addition, the Pew Center is the recipient of a major grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. This award has enabled the Pew Center to produce two Congressional briefing books [3] focusing on key design questions regarding U.S. climate policy and to conduct ongoing related outreach. The materials outline the implications of different policy approaches with regard to cap and trade and other complementary policies. The primary goal for this effort is to inform the development of federal climate policy by educating Congressional policy-makers, agency officials, and their staff about the key decisions that will need to be made in designing these programs.