Federal Climate Policy

Audubon taps into people’s love of birds to protect them from climate change.

Audubon works with federal decision makers both in the nation’s capital and at home in their backyards to achieve common sense solutions to climate change. We engage with our 1.7 million members and the 45 million Americans who consider themselves birders to make complex environmental impacts tangible.

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Natural Climate Solutions

We support the protection of landscapes that can naturally store carbon and provide places that birds need to survive. These landscapes include forests, wetlands, coasts, grasslands, and agricultural land.

Natural solutions rely on living things that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, like forests, prairies, sea grass, and soil. We call these features carbon sinks because they remove more emissions from the atmosphere than they emit. The restoration of these places,  as well as diversified agricultural practices like soil sequestration and responsible livestock and land management, can draw down emissions while simultaneously improving critical bird habitat.

Press Room

Audubon Report Shows That Important Bird Habitats are Key Natural Solutions to Climate Change

Important ecosystems for birds can also store tens of millions of tons of carbon naturally if maintained and restored.
Press Room

‘Build Back Better’ Act Advances Through the U.S. House of Representatives

The historic proposal would represent a significant opportunity to address climate risks to birds, people, and places we need.
Great Blue Heron.
Press Room

Landmark Legislation Sets a Framework for a Cleaner Future for People and Birds

While some priorities remain to be addressed, the infrastructure and reconciliation bills together represent the nation’s largest investment in addressing the causes and impacts of climate change.

100% Clean Electricity

We support a transition to 100% clean electricity by increasing renewable energy, preserving carbon-free energy sources, and phasing out coal power while protecting birds.

While we currently rely on fossil fuels to generate the majority of our electricity, there are a number of options that do not emit greenhouse gases as they operate, like wind turbines, photovoltaic solar panels, and geothermal energy. Replacing fossil fuel-burning power plants with cleaner alternatives, including energy storage, is essential to reducing emissions.

State and federal standards that require electricity suppliers to provide 100% clean electricity can drive this change. Audubon supports the expansion of renewable energy that avoids, minimizes, and mitigates impacts to birds and their habitat.

Climate

Green Light for Largest Offshore Wind Project in the U.S. is a Hopeful Restart for Birds

The revived Vineyard Wind Project will be a powerful force for reducing emissions, protecting both people and wildlife from the effects of climate change.
News

How New Technology Is Making Wind Farms Safer for Birds

Raptors and wind energy have a fraught history. Could these innovations allow them to co-exist? 
Renewable Energy

LevelTen Energy, The Nature Conservancy, and The National Audubon Society Advocate for a Sustainable and Equitable Energy Transition with Launch of New Impact Principles

New jointly-written white paper provides principles and framework for buying and developing renewable energy projects with positive impacts on local communities, conservation efforts, and the climate.

Economy-wide Solutions

We support comprehensive policies that set binding emissions reduction targets, drive large-scale emission reductions, and protect or expand the places birds need.

Examples of economy-wide solutions include placing a fee on carbon emissions, which would require businesses to pay for each metric ton of carbon emitted. With a price on carbon emissions, sources that continue to emit emissions would either pay for their impact or find a new way to do business that is less harmful to the climate. Revenues could be invested in clean energy innovation, returned to consumers, or put to any number of productive uses.

Climate

Proposed Bill Represents Progress on Climate and Carbon Pricing

WASHINGTON (March 10, 2021) -- A new bill would establish a price on carbon emissions to fund grants and loans for projects that address climate...
News

Carbon Pricing Bill Is a Bold Step Forward

The Market Choice Act marks an important opportunity to advance the conversation on climate solutions.
News

Proposed Nationwide Carbon Tax Led by Republicans Reminds That Climate Change Is a Concern for All

The proposal, which was discussed at the White House last week, takes a conservative approach to climate action. But it runs into a problem central to all carbon taxes: deciding how to spend the raised funds.

Innovation

We support investment in the invention, improvement, and deployment of technology that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in every sector of the economy through research, public-private partnerships, and market-driven solutions.

Many of the solutions we will need to achieve a zero-carbon future have already been developed, but there are still gaps—for instance, in the wide deployment of energy storage—where technological innovation can further increase effectiveness or drive down costs. We must dedicate resources to institutions and researchers who are working to answer questions like how to make the electrical grid more secure and reliable, whether it is possible to design more efficient electrical generation units, and whether it is possible to capture greenhouse gases from the air and permanently sequester them.

Climate

The Congressional Energy Package Is an Important Building Block, but More Innovation and Action Against Climate Change Is Needed

The omnibus energy bill comprises bipartisan bills from the House and Senate, and includes measures addressing everything from renewables and efficiency to nuclear energy and carbon capture.
Press Room

With Omnibus Legislation, Congress Takes Strong Action on Greenhouse Gases

The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act is “one of the strongest actions that Congress has taken to directly address climate change.”
Climate

Recovery Efforts Provide the Opportunity to Build a 21st Century Energy System

As Congress makes plans to recover from the COVID crisis, they must plan for the future by supporting legislation that saves and creates jobs, while also creating a cleaner and healthier world.