Today, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading body of climate scientists, released its Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (the cryosphere refers to areas containing frozen water, such as glaciers and snowcapped mountains). More than 100 scientists from 80 countries examined thousands of peer-reviewed studies to assess the impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans, as well as its coastal, polar, and mountain regions. Their conclusions were grim. “Global warming of 1 degree Celsius has already taken place, and the impacts are already being felt: rising sea levels, disappearing glaciers, more extreme weather, marine heatwaves…” noted EESI Executive Director Carol Werner. “Already severe, these impacts will only get worse as we continue to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is alarmed by the latest U.N. report, Climate Change and Land, which was released yesterday. The report warns that climate change is exacerbating pressures on the global food supply, threatening millions more with hunger, and potentially raising food prices for all.

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Today, the Department of Defense released a Congressionally-mandated report on the effects of a changing climate on America's military bases. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute welcomes the report but finds it incomplete, as it fails to list the most vulnerable bases, per Congress's directive. More importantly, the report doesn’t list and price out actionable measures that could be taken to better prepare America's armed forces for the impacts of climate change.

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The New York-based Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust has awarded a $300,000 grant to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) to showcase resilience as a major component of climate change adaptation in federal policy, with a particular focus on coastal communities and nature-based solutions.

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This Saturday, 197 countries—including the United States—agreed on a rule book for the Paris Climate Agreement, which calls on the world's nations to keep global warming significantly below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Participating countries have already submitted written pledges to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, by transitioning to cleaner energy sources and by promoting energy efficiency. But rules were needed to ensure that countries could monitor each other’s actions, and properly measure their impacts.

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On November 23, 2018, the U.S. government released Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA), which confirms—once again—that climate change is already having adverse impacts on Americans. "How many wake-up calls do we need? Every new National Climate Assessment has built on the previous one, confirming that climate change is already happening, and that we need to act," said EESI Executive Director Carol Werner.

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"The proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule is another failure in leadership by this Administration to protect the public and is a sharp divergence from the fundamental mission of the Environmental Protection Agency," said EESI Executive Director Carol Werner.

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EESI is deeply disappointed by the EPA decision today to formally repeal the Clean Power Plan, which had aimed to reduce U.S. carbon emissions from power plants by approximately one-third by 2030 (from 2005 levels). EPA has a legal obligation to regulate carbon emissions, following a 2007 Supreme Court decision and the EPA's own 2009 determination that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

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"Seventy-six years ago, the United States led the free world in defeating an existential menace. Today, the world is confronted with another existential menace: climate change. But instead of stepping up to the plate and assuming its leadership role, the United States is shirking its responsibilities. The rest of the world must not succumb to the same mistake, but rally to defend the agreement," said EESI Chair Jared Blum.

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The White House announced today, March 28, that it is retracting the Clean Power Plan, the Obama Administration's signature climate policy. The Clean Power Plan would have represented the first-ever federal limits on carbon emission from power plants, which represent 40 percent of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Carol Werner, EESI's Executive Director, gave a statement.

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