We’re Moving Forward

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. The shock-and-awe assault on US climate policies and environmental protections we’ve seen from the new White House has left the climate movement – and millions of Americans – reeling.

An “energy emergency” declaration on Day One and promises to “Drill, baby, drill,” – despite US oil and gas production levels shattering all records. An executive order effectively withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement achieved with US leadership. A pause on federal funding not just for clean energy initiatives, but Meals on Wheels programs for seniors, Head Start classes for kids, and desperately needed AIDS medications overseas. A growing climate of fear where no one knows what’s coming next.

It goes without saying that so many of these moves bear no relation to the economic, environmental, and geopolitical realities outside our window. Much less public opinion, with clear majorities of Americans backing climate protections and clean energy investments, often by a wide margin.

What is clear amidst the chaos is that the administration is trying to lock the nation into fossil fuels for the long term and protect industry profits. No matter the costs for American families and our planet.

We knew the attack was coming. But it’s one thing to see the punch swinging. It’s another to feel the impact in your chest and ripple through your body.

We cannot deny the deep sadness witnessing years of struggle threatened with the casual stroke of a pen in these first weeks. But what we can say is that while these weeks have been a setback, they have not been a defeat. Far from it.

Yes, the news cycle can feel overwhelming right now. But it’s worth remembering that the fossil fuel interests and oligarchs behind these orders only win if we let them. The disinformation now poisoning our media and our politics only succeeds if no one speaks the truth.

We have other plans.

At Climate Reality, we’ve been preparing for this moment. Simply put, we’re resolved to standing up for reality and advancing the clean energy transition critical to a livable future. What’s more, we have a two-part plan to do it.

Part One: The world needs leaders. We’re training thousands more.

In uncertain times, with anti-climate populism on the rise in some places and despair rampant, the world needs resolute leaders to push for ambitious climate and clean energy solutions in every sector and continent – and to refuse to take “No” for an answer.

Recruiting, training, and mobilizing these leaders is exactly what we do. In 2025, we’re taking this effort to the next level.

With our founder and chairman, former US Vice President Al Gore, we’ll be training thousands and thousands of new Climate Reality Leaders through in-person events on every continent save Antarctica and global online experiences.

If you’re wondering who will be there to stand up in the face of political headwinds and fight for a livable future in cities, states, businesses, and national governments now, the answer is: These Leaders.

After all, this isn’t the first time we’ve faced concerted attacks on climate ambition. Our resilient global network of more than 3.8 million has persevered in the past and is focused on the long-term solutions that transcend transitional political setbacks.

Part Two: Pull on the levers of power in three strategic areas.

With temperatures and emissions both reaching record heights in 2024, we do not have time to waste. In 2025, our campaigns, Leaders, and network will be laser-focused on three areas critical to changing course and unleashing powerful forces for change worldwide.

• Reducing Emissions: The world needs more energy and fast. The growth of data centers and artificial intelligence coupled with increasing electrification in transit, homes, and manufacturing means demand is exploding. We’re working to ensure the supply we build to meet it is clean, cheap, and accessible to people everywhere.
  
  For all the new administration’s rhetoric, reality is on our side. Clean energy is increasingly the cheapest form of new electricity in most of the world and market forces stronger than any executive action are making renewables the economic choice planet-wide. A global transition to clean energy is already underway and it’s not a question of if, but when and how fast renewables become the world’s primary energy source.
  
  Our Leaders and campaigns are now working for the practical policies that seize this momentum to accelerate energy transition at every level and fight fossil fuel expansion at every turn.
  
  In the US, this means working with cities and states to pass pro-climate legislation and defending key federal policies cutting global warming pollution and costs for working families. It means protecting climate-smart and clean energy investments leading to the announcement or advancement of over 406,000 new jobs and $422 billion in investment in our communities.
  
  Globally, this means supporting former coal communities working for a just transition in Europe, helping industrial energy users in the Philippines take advantage of the innovative clean energy option program, and much more.

• Financing a Just Transition: We know the transformative power of clean energy to bring prosperity to people across continents. What we need is a financial system equipped to support major investment and rapid buildout of renewable systems in emerging economies and beyond.
  
  Recognizing the power of multilateral development banks (MDBs) like the World Bank to derisk investments for private sector actors and shift energy transition into overdrive, our Leaders and campaigns bring attention to and strategic pressure on these institutions to focus lending on climate projects globally.

• Promoting International Cooperation: Ten years after the historic Paris Agreement gave the world hope and a roadmap to a livable future, fossil fuel opposition and shifting political winds have slowed international action.
  
  In 2025, we change that. COP 30 in Brazil in November marks the first UN climate summit in four years held in a nation committed to real climate action – and a major opportunity for the international community to collectively raise ambitions and get the planet on track for a livable future.
  
  Our trainings and Leaders across the planet aim to seize this moment to push for the ambitious national climate action plans that speed energy transition and open the door to better lives for billions worldwide.

We are under no illusions about the scale of the challenge we face. The fossil fuel interests in the new Trump Administration are determined to slow and even stop the transition to clean energy gathering momentum everywhere. Billionaires once committed to connecting the world now use their media channels to drive us apart, spreading disinformation and distorting even the most basic truths.

But if the barrage of orders these weeks left the movement momentarily down, we are far from out. The reality of the fires that swallowed entire neighborhoods and left thousands homeless in Los Angeles only adds to the urgency of our work and our commitment to carry forward. With or without the White House.

It was not lost on us that the unprecedented assault on our climate began on a day dedicated to honoring a hero whose life example calls us all to courage in difficult times, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Watching events unfold these weeks, we keep coming back to his words, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

The truth here speaks for itself. History will measure us all by where we stand in this time of immense challenge and controversy. At Climate Reality, we have a plan to meet this moment and are moving forward. Count on it.

We hope you’ll be with us. It’s your planet too.