To defend critical climate policies, we need to understand the impact that rollbacks will have on communities across the country. This internship will have four parts:
- Track the federal announcements rolling back climate, environmental justice, clean air, clean water, and clean energy initiatives, and analyze how these rollbacks will increase climate pollution and impact public health to support CAC’s advocacy work and help decision makers on the Hill defend progress.
- Find compelling ways to turn your analysis into facts, stories, and examples of how climate and clean energy rollbacks impact communities in the four states where CAC has deployed field resources (AZ, GA, MI, PA), and ensure these stories are easily understandable to key audiences (e.g. activists, local electeds, and Members of Congress).
- Help us identify how extreme weather events are impacting local communities, especially in AZ, GA, MI, and PA, including financial, infrastructure, and human impacts, as well as strategies for rebuilding sustainability.
- Help the CAC government affairs team with other projects including lobby meetings, briefings and other events.
The Climate Action Campaign (CAC) is a vibrant coalition of a dozen major national environment, environmental justice, and public health groups, working together to drive ambitious, durable federal action based on science, to address the climate crisis. Our goal is to reduce climate pollution and accelerate the transition to clean energy and a sustainable society in ways that support justice, jobs, improved health and quality of life for all.
The Campaign serves as an important center of gravity and convening body for dozens of organizations working together to defend ambitious federal climate policy. This role will aid the coalition in ensuring we can robustly account for and tell the stories of the importance of climate policies to defend against anticipated rollbacks.
Qualifications
The Climate Action Campaign (CAC) is looking for a dynamic and passionate candidate who is a self-starter. You will have top notch writing and research skills; you’ll be a people person, eager to learn, and excited to develop ideas and products that will inform our campaign strategies in the years to come.
In addition to research and writing, this role will include opportunities to help develop strategies defending federal climate progress. It also includes opportunities to engage with people directly involved in solving the climate crisis on the ground and with some of the nation’s top climate policy, advocacy and strategy experts.
Knowledge of federal climate policy is helpful but not essential.
Background
2024 was the hottest year on record, climate pollution continues to fuel the intensity of extreme weather events. The cost of extreme weather events in 2024 exceeded $180 billion. The U.S. recently updated its climate goals to 61-66% climate pollution reduction in 2035 compared to 2005 levels. More climate and clean energy policies are needed to reach this goal, but federal climate initiatives are under attack.
Federal investments in reducing climate pollution, advancing environmental justice, and accelerating the deployment of clean energy, paired with a suite of standards finalized by the Biden administration to make appliances more efficient and clean up the transportation and power sectors have put these goals within reach. However, incoming federal decisionmakers plan to roll back climate and clean energy investments, weaken or undo vital pollution standards, and slash funding from the agency responsible for protecting public health and the environment. Efforts to undermine these popular policies would not just jeopardize our climate goals, exacerbate pollution burdens in frontline communities, and worsen public health, they would stymie clean energy innovation and potentially reverse recent economic and job growth.
