Budget Matters Blog

Category: Climate Change


From the Climate Crisis to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Our Militarized Budget Fuels Injustice

While climate change fuels migration, the United States hardens its southern border instead of investing in real sources of safety for people in this country and around the world. 


Invest in Climate Solutions Now or Pay the Price for Inaction Later

A new study finds that the United States experienced 20 separate billion-dollar climate and weather disasters in 2021. The damages from these 20 costly disasters totaled $145 billion. 


A Just Transition For Defense Industries? Lessons from Fossil Fuel Transitions

Plans for a Just Transition away from defense industries do not need to be pulled out of thin air. The ongoing efforts to transition economies, workers, and communities out of the harmful fossil fuel economy provides insights into what works and what doesn’t. 


To Save the Planet, We Need to Demilitarize the Police

Even with climate disasters all around us, nonviolent environmental demonstrations face fierce police repression. Why?


Does Biden Put His Money Where His Mouth Is On Climate?

Last week the White House convened a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate with forty leaders from the world's largest economies presenting their plans to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Now that the dust has settled, what should we make of the new commitments announced at the summit? 


Returning to the Paris Agreement is a Start, Now We Need New Internationalism on Climate

The United States' reentry to the Paris Climate Agreement is critical, but far from the sufficient. The path to a livable future requires new internationalism rooted in global cooperation, resource sharing, and solidarity.


Muzzling Dissent: How Militarized Police & Fossil Fuel Corporations Are Criminalizing Protest

A new Institute for Policy Studies report exposes the troubling link between new laws criminalizing protesters and the fossil fuel industry’s deep influence over elected officials. 


Indigenous Peoples Day and the Years of Repair

The Years of Repair shows how we can transform moments of urgent global crisis into catalysts for demanding and achieving a restorative, progressive vision for the future.


A New Plan to End the Unemployment Crisis

A new economic renewal plan would put millions of people back to work building a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable economy.


To Achieve Climate Justice, Demilitarize the Border

Immigrant justice is climate justice. Demilitarization is core to achieving both.