We mourn the lives of all Iranian civilians and U.S. service members lost in the United States’s illegal preemptive strike on Iran, and that of all civilians killed and hurt in subsequent strikes in the region. We condemn the greed and lawlessness that brought us here. This new war with Iran, and the administrations behind it, are continuing to fuel broader conflict and instability in the region and around the world.
A majority of Americans oppose the war, which has already cost us $10 billion in its first 10 days and will continue to cost taxpayers roughly $1 billion per day. Beyond the burden on taxpayers, people worldwide could suffer serious economic shocks and devastating inflation as every sector — from utilities to essential goods and services — gets hit by the consequences of the rising, unstable price of fossil fuels.
It is true that the motivations of individual actors behind this war are opaque, conflicting, and confusing. What is nevertheless clear is that this crisis is only possible in the context of a world dominated by excessive fossil fuel profits and histories of brutal military occupations. Regardless of which members of the investment class come out ahead, nothing will improve for the majority of people who must work to make ends meet, and for whom much could get worse.
Americans will pay a high price, both at the pump and in lives and our safety. As always, it is poor and structurally marginalized communities who will bear a disproportionate amount of these consequences. When Donald Trump and his allies in Congress and industry say “drill baby, drill,” they know perfectly well that increasing extraction of fossil fuels and choking the development of cheaper and readily accessible renewable energy doesn't make us safer. Rather, it makes us weaker, more easily manipulated, and vulnerable to foreign and domestic adversaries.
A global economy that did put all people and the planet first — and had spent the past decades building out renewable, sustainable, life-promoting infrastructure — wouldn’t be finding itself in the horrors of this timeline. There is no question that this planet’s inhabitants would be living healthier, longer, safer, and more joyful lives if we were not perpetually subordinated to and annihilated by a political class that prioritizes profit maximization and the extractive exploitation of people and our environment above all else. But the people who had the ability, and the time, to course correct chose otherwise, and the rest of us are now living with the consequences of their violent political economy, including global ecosystem collapse.
Globally, warfare is one of the largest contributors to climate change and environmental destruction. Greenhouse gas emissions related to warfare from fuel consumption for aviation, wildfires, and damage to energy infrastructure are continuing to increase due to recent conflicts, including Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Trump’s latest war, for reasons and objectives that have not been made clear to the American public or to Congress, is one of the most devastating blows to our planet we’ve yet seen. We cannot protect our planet if the wealthiest and most powerful countries cannot be prevented from instigating pointless and endless wars and remain unchecked by the people.
We join every American who objects to this war and the political class that started it. Our planet can be a beautiful place, and stewarding and protecting all of its inhabitants and its natural resources is our noblest calling. The most precious resource we have is human life and culture. To the civilians and children of Iran, and to anyone suffering in this grotesque and needless war, we offer our love and our full solidarity.
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Brian Gumm, Bryan Dunning, Catalina Gonzalez, Federico Holm, James Goodwin, Rachel Mayo, Sophie Loeb, Spencer Green, Tara Quinonez | March 12, 2026
We mourn the lives of all Iranian civilians and U.S. service members lost in the illegal preemptive strike on Iran, and that of all civilians killed and hurt in subsequent strikes in the region. This war is continuing to fuel broader conflict and instability in the region and around the world. We join every American who objects to this war. Our planet can be a beautiful place, and stewarding and protecting all of its inhabitants and its natural resources is our noblest calling.
Daniel Farber | February 24, 2026
If the Trump EPA successfully repeals the endangerment findings for vehicles and stationary sources, states will be the only resort for climate action. A key question is how the repeals would impact state power relating to carbon emissions. The bottom line answers are: (1) the impact on state power to regulate tailpipe emissions seems unclear but could be positive; (2) there would be no effect on state power to regulate stationary sources like power plants; (3) plaintiffs suing oil companies would probably benefit.
Federico Holm | February 19, 2026
How has the local renewable energy ordinance landscape changed since mid-2023, the last time we took stock of this fast-moving policy issue? It turns out a lot has happened since then. In our latest analysis, we address this question by summarizing the major trends across the Lower 48, including a comprehensive update of our local ordinance database. This update provides advocates, journalists, researchers, and county board officials with valuable information, in an open and accessible way. With it, we seek to empower stakeholders with critical data in our efforts to ensure that the clean energy transition not only happens, but that it does so consistent with just transition and energy democracy principles.
Daniel Farber | February 18, 2026
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overturned its 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles endanger human health and welfare. EPA argued that it lacked the legal power to regulate these greenhouse gas emissions. As I have written elsewhere, EPA’s arguments are difficult to square with a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Massachusetts v. EPA.
Sophie Loeb | February 17, 2026
Data centers are increasingly making headlines for the serious problems they create for the communities where they are proposed and built, as well as for the resistance from people who live there, who refuse to accept the rising energy bills, noise and air pollution, and strains on water infrastructure that inevitably accompany these new neighbors. On Tuesday, February 10, I moderated a webinar, “From Community to Congress: Advocating on AI Data Centers,” that broke down the (de)regulatory landscape of data centers.
Daniel Farber | February 13, 2026
The other shoe has dropped with the announcement of the final rule repealing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare. The Trump administration has the nasty habit of announcing new regulations before posting them. That means that for the moment, we are limited to the EPA press release.
James Goodwin | February 12, 2026
Over the course of more than a century, serious statespeople came together to build the modern administrative state out of a shared commitment to redeeming their constitutional duty to form a more perfect union. The February 12 action to rescind the 2009 EPA endangerment finding represents the single greatest defiance of that project yet by the Trump administration.
James Goodwin | February 2, 2026
To the extent that people think about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at all, they likely think of an institution that works to safeguard our health and well-being, and that of our environment. So, The New York Times made quite a splash recently when it reported that the agency had adopted a new policy under which it would stop considering the health benefits of two of the most harmful and pervasive air pollutants: fine particulate matter and ozone.
Brian Gumm, Bryan Dunning, Catalina Gonzalez, Federico Holm, James Goodwin, Sophie Loeb, Spencer Green | January 29, 2026
One of the core beliefs of the Center for Progressive Reform is that our collective problems require collective solutions. One of the reasons we embrace the administrative state is that it provides a uniquely powerful institutional forum within our constitutional system of government in which to put that belief into practice — and was indeed created for doing so. That vision has not always lived up to its full potential, of course, and building a government that lives up to that vision is a focal point of the Center’s work. What is currently happening with the violent occupation of Minneapolis and other cities across the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other militarized civilian administrative agencies represents a categorically different problem, however.