The Climate Program seeks to spur informed debate about national policy that would put a cap and a price on carbon. Based on the scientific imperative of avoiding dangerous climate change, our goal is to put greenhouse gas emissions on an immediate downward trend and set the U.S. on a trajectory of 80 percent carbon reductions by 2050.

While climate demands a national policy response, states have provided the political leadership and policy laboratories on climate change. States will continue to be important policy innovators and implementers.

Our funding strategy is to promote understanding of the diverse ways in which our country will be affected by climate change, and to advance policy solutions at the state and national levels. Our grant portfolio includes organizations from a wide range of fields, such as national security, business, labor, faith, agriculture, and conservation. Potential areas of work include:

• Building support for climate protection among diverse allies, such as business associations, veterans' groups, religious organizations, and agricultural interests, among others;
• Policy analysis, such as assessing the effects of climate policy on consumers, business, jobs, and Gross Domestic Product; modeling state-by-state impacts; or evaluating policy design options on issues such as offsets, allowance allocation, or integrating carbon controls with complementary policies for energy efficiency and renewable energy;
• Targeted efforts to educate opinion leaders and stakeholders—nationally or in key states—about climate change and climate policy;
• Supporting implementation of state and regional climate laws and agreements, such as California's AB 32, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the Northeast, and the Western Climate Initiative; and
• Improving understanding of the role of the U.S. in an international climate agreement.