Meaningful climate action in the United States has failed because corporate interests are taking advantage of and contributing to a weakening democracy. There are no shortcuts around strengthening our democracy, but we already know how to get there: grow and protect civic space.
We are living in the midst of a contradiction: the United States is better equipped than ever to address climate change, yet the government, at least, is unwilling to do so. We know that we need to drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels, invest in renewables, transform transit, and protect our land and water. We have the tools and know-how to do all of the above. But since his inauguration in January 2025, President Donald Trump’s administration has halted wind energy projects, shored up the coal industry, and rolled back electric vehicle policies while attacking public transit, among many other actions counter to our climate needs.
That said, the root of the problem is not just that the wrong people are in power—or at least, that’s not the full picture. Yes, the Trump administration has led a systematic, incredibly damaging rollback of environmental progress of any recent leadership. But it’s also true that the United States has been continuously failing to address climate change at the scale needed for as long as we’ve known about its existence.
The Trump administration’s pushback against climate action is only possible because of the primacy of corporate interests and an ongoing and worsening degradation of U.S. democracy. As the nation marks its 250th birthday, we need to talk about how weakening democracy is harming climate action—and how we can respond.
Climate Inaction is a Product of Corporate Interests Supplanting Democratic Processes
Most Americans want the United States to address climate change and think the government is not doing enough. A majority of Americans also want investments in clean energy, which will increase energy independence and lower costs. Corporate interests profiting off of U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, especially the oil and gas industry, know this, and they are scared. True democratic decision-making could impact their bottom line, so they have exploited and widened the fissures in our democracy through the following mechanisms, both during the current administration and before:
- Corporate Capture: After donating heavily to Trump’s election campaign and pouring money into congressional elections and lobbying, the fossil fuel industry has benefited from increased control of dozens of federal agencies and offices, climate-related regulatory rollbacks, and hidden subsidies that distort markets in its favor.
- Axing Oversight and Transparency: The fossil fuel industry is leading the push to “reform” permitting processes and deregulate itself. The changes that they have won or continue to seek erode democratic oversight processes, including restricting access to judicial review, allowing polluters to bypass review for Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act considerations, and blocking accountability for the dumping of known pollutants.
- Opting Out of Accountability: The fossil fuel industry is trying to circumvent some of America’s most foundational principles: access to justice and equality under the law. It is supporting the introduction of federal and state bills that would ban any community lawsuit seeking to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for their fair share of climate damages and their decades of deceit.
- Punishing Dissent: Fossil fuel companies are trying to silence protesters, environmental defenders, and concerned citizens through lawsuits, legislation banning some forms of First Amendment-protected protest, and working with law enforcement and private security to surveil, disrupt, chill, and villainize protest.
The current and prospective damage that these actions pose to both our democracy and our climate is scary. Even worse, there are no silver bullets. Fresh new leaders with ambitious visions will stumble if their agencies remain hamstrung by industry. Climate innovation will keep going through endless cycles of deployment and cancellation if fossil fuel companies maintain an outsized seat at the table. The only way out is through: to solve the climate crisis, we need to strengthen our democracy.
This is Not New — We Have Always Been Fighting for A Better Democracy
While the situation is dire, it is not, in fact, unprecedented. Democracy in the United States has always been limited and contentious, and we can learn from other fights for social, economic, and environmental justice.
Over the last century, people power movements fighting for civil rights, farm worker rights, women’s suffrage, and LGBTQ+ rights have built and expanded a better democracy through dedicated organizing, protesting, litigation, and solidarity. These movements remind us that we shouldn’t and don’t need to wait until we hold political power to strengthen democracy.
To Strengthen Democracy, Protect and Grow Civic Space
A key step towards strengthening democracy is protecting and growing civic space. As the government and companies fall short, civil society organizations and everyday citizens are the ones informing the public, calling bad actors out, litigating, and creating change. For democracy to work, everyday citizens, civil society organizations, and social justice movements must be able to operate freely. To protect civic space, we need to:
- Prioritize basic political rights: Our first amendment rights to speech, the press, assembly, petition, and religion are the bedrock of civic space, as is the right to vote. These rights are fundamental to achieving other advocacy actions, so we must prioritize their defense in the civil society space and beyond. Attacks against them can vary widely in scope and shape, as demonstrated by the “SAVE America Act” bill threatening voting rights, state-level laws limiting protest, and administrative actions against media organizations.
- Challenge Attacks: Anti-democratic actions, whether they originate with industry or government actors, must be challenged. Citizens and civil society actors can challenge anti-democratic behavior through negative publicity, peaceful protest, policy advocacy, and legal action. Organizations across issue areas can work together to apply disclosure and transparency tools with federal government agencies and push back against anti-democratic bills in Congress. All of these strategies can stop current attacks, deter future ones, and create accountability, including through backlashes in popular opinion, heightened transparency, or court judgements.
- Stand in Solidarity: Some of the most pernicious forms of anti-democratic attack are direct attacks on civil society actors and activists. These attacks put immense strain on the direct targets, and they can also lead to a silencing effect among peers and funders. However, to fall silent or grow hesitant is to cede power. In order for us to maintain civic space, we need to denounce attacks against others and support targeted organizations, including those working on issue areas other than our own.
- Be in It for the Long Haul: Democracy is a process, with wins and losses along the way. This means that advocates and funders must be willing to pursue long-term strategies instead of only chasing short-term wins. There is an incredible wealth of individuals and organizations with track records of winning hard-fought climate and democracy battles that are yet again leading strategic fights, but they need continued trust and support.
Climate and Democracy at America’s 250th
Two hundred fifty years of U.S. history evades simplistic reduction. The country is built on the genocide of Native American peoples, the enslavement of Black people, and the unceasing extraction and pollution of land, water, and people at home and abroad. But U.S. history is also the story of people and community, from the Underground Railroad to the labor movement to the #NoDAPL protests at Standing Rock.
This complex history shows us that although the challenges are great, Americans have what it takes to strengthen our democracy so that it is truly responsive to people and communities, not corporate interests. As with every great social challenge to date, we must invest in civic space by defending rights, countering anti-democratic attacks, and standing in solidarity with each other, for as long as it takes. A transformative approach to climate change is within reach, but we must put in the work to get there.
