This briefing will highlight efforts to address this crisis, including wildfire preparedness, response, and recovery policies and innovations in the United States. Panelists will identify evidence-backed approaches—from smart zoning and upgraded building codes to fuels management and early detection—and the role of federal policy in supporting the rapid development and cost-effective implementation of these tactics at scale. Attendees will leave this briefing with an understanding of how to strengthen wildfire mitigation efforts, bolster community wildfire resilience, ease the strain on emergency services, and save taxpayer dollars.

The briefing shared new findings from the 2026 edition of the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook. The Factbook provides valuable year-over-year data and insights on the U.S. energy transformation. It examines trends in data centers and artificial intelligence along with the ways in which permitting and siting as well as federal appropriations impact the deployment of modern energy solutions. The report also features an in-depth look at key topics including demand-side energy resources, renewable energy, natural gas, energy storage, and sustainable transportation.

Attendees heard from State Energy Office leaders about the 11-state Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, 13-state Geothermal Power Accelerator, hydropower, advanced transmission reconductoring and grid optimization, and energy storage. Panelists discussed energy efficiency solutions that are lowering energy bills for consumers and businesses, and the latest on state energy security initiatives designed to improve reliability and speed the recovery of energy systems following physical, weather, and cyber incidents. Speakers highlighted key federal policies that can help states in their efforts to catalyze energy innovation and address energy affordability.

The Readout reviewed the status of updated country commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase adaptation efforts and the next steps in the global effort to assess progress towards collective climate goals. Speakers unpacked the U.S. presence at COP30, including federal, subnational, and private sector roles in the proceedings; highlighted next steps following COP30; and explained what it all means for U.S. climate policy.

View the full briefing series at eesi.org/cop30-briefings.

This briefing explored multilateral efforts to reduce trade-related greenhouse gas emissions through the lens of the upcoming international climate negotiations (COP30). Panelists discussed climate-related policies being proposed in the United States and abroad, as well as the broader geopolitical trade environment–including tariffs–impacting these efforts. Speakers also described collaborations in the maritime shipping sector, which accounts for 90% of all goods moved. Attendees left with an understanding of the different ways trade is expected to influence COP30 negotiations as well as opportunities for additional international cooperation that could advance, rather than detract from, global climate goals.

View the full briefing series at eesi.org/cop30-briefings.

This briefing explored progress made towards these goals—from nature-based and passive cooling to low global warming potential refrigerant technologies. Panelists also discussed the Senate-ratified Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which is phasing down HFCs. The briefing left policymakers with takeaways on what to expect at COP30 related to sustainable cooling and extreme heat as well as the economic and public health benefits of addressing refrigerant emissions domestically.

View the full briefing series at eesi.org/cop30-briefings.

Panelists explained key issues on the negotiating agenda, including determining metrics for climate adaptation and charting the path toward international climate finance goals. The briefing described the role of the COP30 Brazil Presidency and its forest and agriculture priorities, unpacked the evolving role of the United States in this international policy-making process, and highlighted which U.S. stakeholders are expected at COP30—from businesses and nonprofits to state and local governments. It will also preview the realm of possible outcomes from COP30 and what they would mean for U.S. climate policy.

View the full briefing series at eesi.org/cop30-briefings.

This briefing identified opportunities for industrial emissions reductions—such as electrification and material reuse. Panelists also highlighted how key players from the federal government and private sector come together to advance deployable innovations like green steel and carbon-negative concrete. Attendees left with an understanding of industrial decarbonization efforts that also boost American competitiveness and create a more resilient economy and climate.

This briefing outlined policy options and technological innovations to address these challenges. Panelists expanded on several aspects of grid modernization, including the buildout of new transmission lines, bringing online new power generation and energy storage capacity, and improving energy efficiency. They also described the state of permitting reform in the 119th Congress. Attendees left this briefing with a better understanding of the imperatives and multiple benefits of an environmentally and economically sustainable energy grid to power the 21st century.

This briefing provided a foundational understanding of AI’s role in the climate and energy arena. Panelists discussed the massive energy and water needs of data centers that run AI algorithms. They also layed out how the technology is already being put to use—from precision agriculture to resilient grid infrastructure and improved weather forecasting. The briefing highlighted the frontiers of AI, including the federal government’s role in research and development at the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories, and explored Congress’s role in aligning the rapid rise of AI development and usage with global goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate impacts.

This briefing unpacked the challenges and opportunities embedded in increasing the health and resilience of the Ohio River Basin. In particular, panelists addressed the disproportionate impact of both pollution and flooding on economically disadvantaged communities. Policymakers left with an understanding of how collaboration between community stakeholders, industry, and federal, state, and local governments advances pollution remediation work, conservation efforts, and climate resilience projects. 

This briefing highlighted the Federation of American Scientists’ 2025 Heat Policy Agenda, which outlines policy considerations for Congress and the Administration to prevent infrastructure damage, economic impacts, and loss of life from heat. Speakers described opportunities to safeguard critical infrastructure such as our energy systems, improve productivity, and improve federal and subnational coordination on heat preparedness, management, and resilience.

This briefing highlighted how the country’s highways can be maintained in the context of a changing climate, from increasing preparedness for extreme weather events to building out electric vehicle charging corridors. Panelists highlighted opportunities for federal policy to help relocate highways to reconnect communities, use cool pavement and climate-smart building materials, and manage toxic runoff from roads. The briefing also identified opportunities to optimize federal funding to improve the way the country’s highways connect people.

This Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) briefing explored the past, current, and future role of rail in the U.S. transportation sector and highlighted key rail programs under the surface transportation bill. Speakers also described opportunities to modernize railways through electrification, faster trains, track expansion, and safety improvements.

This Readout will answer your questions on the mechanics of reconciliation, how the process could unfold in the coming months, and how the package moving through Congress could affect clean energy tax incentives and other funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and more.

To learn about the basics of budget reconciliation, as well as the annual appropriations process, watch or read the highlight notes from EESI’s February 2025 briefing, Understanding the Budget, Reconciliation, and Appropriations.

We are here to help you answer questions from your boss and constituents. Let us know what climate, energy, and environmental topics you want to see us cover in future Rapid Readouts by emailing us here. 

This venerable U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program is best known by its distinctive blue logo, which helps consumers choose high-efficiency appliances and electronics that save them money. But ENERGY STAR is much more than that, and it underpins countless federal, state, and local energy efficiency initiatives. This Readout provided background on the bipartisan origins and heritage of ENERGY STAR and described the many benefits the program delivers to households and businesses, including retailers, developers, and utilities. 

This briefing explored the basics of property insurance and how it functions in the United States, including the challenges faced by individuals, businesses, insurers, and reinsurers. It also featured existing and emerging tools—from parametric insurance to climate endorsements—that are reshaping how insurance products can better serve communities. Panelists described the role of federal policy in advancing these new ways of thinking about insurance.

At this briefing, Woodwell Climate Research Center also be launched a new report, Rebuilding Insurance for a Climate Future: A Policy Guide to Understand Tools, Address Inequities, and Find Solutions.

This briefing explored the nexus of transportation, public health, and climate change. Panelists described potential negative health outcomes, stemming from issues like air pollution and road crashes. The briefing also provided policy, process, and funding solutions that weave public health considerations into the surface transportation reauthorization process in a way that benefits both people and climate.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) held a briefing about the 13th edition of the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook. The Factbook provides valuable year-over-year data and insights on the U.S. energy transformation, featuring an in-depth look at the energy efficiency, renewable energy, and natural gas sectors, as well as transmission, digitalization, microgrids, offshore wind, hydrogen, and renewable natural gas.

This year, the Factbook dives into the growing energy demand driven by data centers and artificial intelligence. It examines trends in clean energy supply chains, growth in domestic manufacturing, and the ways in which permitting and siting impact the deployment of renewable energy. Panelists spoke to key takeaways from the 2025 Factbook and what they mean for industries working in all facets of the energy transition.

The Factbook, published by BloombergNEF and BCSE, launched on February 20, and is available to download for free at www.bcse.org/factbook.

The surface transportation bill reauthorizes federal highway, transit, and rail funding and programs every five years. This final briefing of EESI’s Congressional Climate Camp series provided a breakdown of everything decision-makers need to know ahead of the bill’s next reauthorization in 2026. 

Panelists described the transportation bill’s history, including bipartisan cooperation, climate-related provisions, and external stakeholder engagement. Looking ahead, the briefing explained the general timeline for the reauthorization, the bill’s jurisdiction, and key issues across bill titles. The briefing also shared on-the-ground climate success stories from the most recent reauthorization—the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This briefing focused on the role of federal policy in supporting stakeholders across the West as they addressed the impacts of drought and water stress through effective water conservation, measurement, and allocation. Panelists discussed the importance of collaboration between tribes, industry, communities, and local and federal government to restore river vitality and ensure equitable water availability for generations to come.

Panelists discussed how this growth in domestic manufacturing supports the clean energy transition and helps meet increasing demand, all while reinvesting in the communities in which these factories operate. The briefing also explored recent Congressional actions that spurred this manufacturing boom, as well as possible policy opportunities to leverage the momentum. 

EESI’s first Climate Camp briefing served as an interactive refresher on the drivers of climate change and the latest deployable solutions to address the challenge. This Congress, topics such as agriculture, infrastructure, and national security will be front and center. The briefing covered climate concepts and terminology—from types of greenhouse gases to renewable energy technologies—to help you identify policy solutions at the intersection of these issue areas.

At this briefing, panelists showcased tools—like the EN-ROADS simulator, co-developed by MIT Sloan and Climate Interactive—that staff can use to easily digest climate data and generate policy ideas. They also highlighted federal agency resources essential to understanding the climate challenge and innovative solutions to address it.

This briefing also discussed the outcomes of the Uncommon Dialogue, which brought together tribes, national and local government, the hydropower industry, and river conservation stakeholders to identify shared approaches to steward river health and safety while ensuring hydropower operations provide clean, affordable energy. Panelists discussed the role of federal investments in the Columbia River’s resilience and health, including Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding.

This briefing highlighted the importance of effective enforcement of local, state, and federal clean water laws and regulations. Panelists discussed the role of federal policy-making in boosting river health, as well as opportunities to support biodiversity.

In 2023, the United States and China produced the Sunnylands Statement ahead of the U.N. climate change negotiations (COP28), following a tradition of publishing similar joint positions in prior years. The statement covered topics related to the energy transition, forest conservation, and non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, including methane. It also kicked off a working group focused on “climate action in the 2020s,” which started meeting in the first half of 2024.  

During the briefing, panelists explained how these bilateral interactions play into the international negotiations on climate change, outlined what to expect during COP29 and its lead up, and discussed the effectiveness of diplomatic efforts in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Ahead of the United Nations annual conference on climate change (COP29), this briefing covered policies nations are implementing to effectively reduce their domestic methane emissions in the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors. Panelists discussed the implementation of the Global Methane Pledge, which 155 countries have signed, and highlighted the role of technology in improving methane monitoring, compliance, and reduction.

Panelists previewed key issues on the negotiating agenda, from setting the new global climate finance goal and determining metrics for climate adaptation to updating national climate goals. The briefing also unpacked the complex process of international climate negotiations, reviewed possible policy outcomes, and explored pathways for subsequent Congressional action.

These opportunities also bring questions: What capacities do varying organizations and municipalities have to apply for, manage, and monitor funding? What reporting requirements could pose challenges for grantees? What does equity look like across these different programs? 

Panelists addressed these questions and described the status of IRA and IIJA programs that increase the technical and financial capacity of public sector groups. They also shared case studies from across the country where funding is making a difference in communities, and discussed what lessons can be learned to bolster these federal efforts going forward. 

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) held a briefing about effective policy-making for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). CDR—the practice of removing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ocean—comes in many forms, including direct air capture, soil carbon sequestration, ocean CDR, and forest restoration. These methods have garnered increasing scientific, governmental, and private sector interest, but expanded policy development is needed to bring them to the scale needed to meet national climate goals. Leveraging key findings from recent reports, panelists from NGOs, academia, and the private sector explored existing policies supporting different stages of CDR development, the level of CDR we expect to need, the potential for CDR in the United States, policy options to enable scaling to that level, and private sector perspectives on the policy landscape. Panelists also pinpointed key takeaways relevant for federal policymakers. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 - Start 02:28 - Senator Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator (D-Colo.) 27:44 - Katie Lebling, Associate II, Carbon Removal, World Resources Institute (WRI) 38:48 - Galen Bower, Senior Analyst, Rhodium Group 47:47 - Peter Psarras, Research Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania 59:21 - Laura Hatalsky, Deputy Director of Policy, Carbon Removal Alliance 01:10:55 - Q&A

This briefing explored the federal role in maximizing the benefits of natural climate solutions. The panel convened experts studying natural climate solutions and practitioners implementing programs supported by federal agencies. These panelists discussed what is working, what we are still learning, and what the next phase of natural climate solutions policy and implementation looks like to support the long-term productivity and resilience of America’s natural and working lands and the prosperity of rural communities.

During this briefing, speakers focused on nature-based solutions in cities—from parks that help manage stormwater to urban trees that can reduce summer temperatures across entire neighborhoods. Panelists, including city government officials, community leaders, and federal agency partners, highlighted equitable and community-designed climate solutions from the places they live and work and described the intersection points with federal policy and programs.

This briefing discussed the options dam owners have to manage this infrastructure challenge, including dam removal, which is a common approach to dam safety and river restoration. Dam owners frequently seek help with removing their obsolete and unsafe structures, and dam removals are only completed with dam owner consent. To date, dam owners have worked with federal agencies and nonprofits to remove 2,119 dams, the majority of them in the last 25 years. 

Panelists discussed the need to pay attention to dams as key infrastructure--including dams that provide carbon-free electricity to 30 million Americans--that has an impact in districts across the country. Bringing together perspectives from federal agencies, local leaders, and the hydropower industry, the briefing highlighted funding, programs, and projects that advance public safety through dam removal as well as river restoration.

The ocean covers 70% of the Earth and serves as its largest carbon sink, holding 42 times the carbon in the atmosphere. Ocean CDR—the practice of removing and storing carbon from the ocean—is garnering increasing scientific, governmental, and private sector interest. At the same time it presents uncertainties related to efficacy, ecosystem impacts, and governance, which decision-makers must understand in order to determine if and how the practice could be scaled up as a climate solution.

Panelists discussed the current state of ocean CDR, including the status of different approaches; the policy and regulatory landscape; research gaps; and the importance of responsible scaling. They also discussed how lawmakers can engage in this emerging policy arena to meet mitigation and adaptation goals.

Panelists addressed these questions and shared the latest updates on U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, and other agency programs that provide for rural communities. They outlined how these laws directly help rural communities—from farms and ranches to rural town centers. Using specific examples from around the country, panelists also discussed key topics from a rural perspective, including electricity provision, broadband access, drinking water availability, and pollution reduction.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) held a briefing about the 12th edition of the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook. The Factbook provides valuable year-over-year data and insights on the U.S. energy transformation, with an in-depth look at the energy efficiency, renewable energy, and natural gas sectors, as well as transmission, digitalization, micro-grids, offshore wind, hydrogen, renewable natural gas, and more.

Panelists explored the impact of supply chain trends as well as permitting and siting processes on U.S. clean energy deployment. They also highlighted investment figures resulting from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Factbook, published by BloombergNEF and BCSE, launched on February 21, and is available to download for free at www.bcse.org/factbook.