Despite more than two decades of solid evidence proving the case for urgent widespread transitions to climate sustainability, the speed and scale of solutions is badly inadequate.
What gives?
Five compounding forces work against climate progress in the US:
Incentives
Prevailing markets and economic choices push people and businesses in the day-to-day away from decisions that are climate-compatible. We follow the logic of seeking needs and opportunities for as little cost as possible, and the rules and options in place continue guide us to fuel climate chaos.
Power
The laws, regulations, and public investments which drive the process just mentioned are maintained by a relatively small number of public officials who hold the keys to make change but aren’t using them. They are in turn influenced by lobbyists, funders, and other advocates who benefit from the status quo. And at the federal level and in many states, climate is not just deprioritized — it is actively undermined.
Information
Americans are broadly supportive of climate action, but uncertain about what meaningful action to support. Low public literacy on climate solutions, compounded by decades of deliberate disinformation, has made it difficult to build effective climate coalitions. Blind spots abound, including among senior decision-makers still operating on obsolete ideas.
Trust
Trust in government is low. Partisan narratives rooted in the Reagan era have entrenched the false idea that government is the problem rather than a vehicle for collective solutions — making it hard to build public support for the coordinated action climate requires.
Inertia
Keeping things the same is easier than doing things differently. Breaking from the status quo requires sophisticated strategy, shrewdness, and patience. Even when the will exists, the path from intention to systems change can be a trek.
These forces compound into an economic, political, and cultural lock-in that repels a better future.
Closing the gap between public support for climate action and actual progress requires confronting these interlocking political, economic, and social forces that keep the status quo in place.
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