What We've Done

How do we know that motivating the right people to take action at the right time and in the right way can make an impact?

We’ve defended our waterways
With Environment America, our campaign organizers helped win the biggest step for clean water in more than a decade, closing loopholes in the Clean Water Act. Environment America Research & Policy Center found polluters had dumped 206 million pounds of toxic chemicals into our water, fouling our rivers, lakes and streams. Armed with these facts, our campaign organizers and allies helped mobilize more than 800,000 Americans, including 450 farmers, 600 local elected officials, 500 health professionals and 300 small businesses to show the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enough public support that they finalized a rule to restore protections to 2 million miles of streams in the U.S. under the Clean Water Act.

We’ve reduced global warming pollution
With Environment America, we’ve made hard-won progress in the race to protect future generations from the worst consequences of global warming. After we helped collect 8 million comments to urge President Obama to act on climate, the EPA announced the Clean Power Plan to limit carbon pollution from power plants—America's single largest source of global warming pollution. Following this historic announcement, our organizers across the country jumped in to defend the EPA’s action and connect the dots between the consequences of global warming and the meaningful impacts of the EPA’s plan.

We’ve helped America go solar
With Environment America, our organizers have helped win important resolutions and polices that encourage solar energy, such as President Obama’s plan to increase access to solar energy for those in low and moderate-income communities. And right now, many of our organizers are working with elected leaders in states across the country to meet goals of getting to at least 10 percent solar by 2030. Grassroots efforts like these have helped triple solar nationwide in just the last two years.

WE’VE TAKEN A SUPER-SIZED STEP TO PROTECT OUR ANTIBIOTICS
The misuse and overuse of antibiotics on factory farms is contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that kill at least 23,000 Americans each year. So to get factory farms to stop overusing our life-saving medicines, we called on fast-food chains to stop buying meat raised on antibiotics. Working with U.S. PIRG, Impact organizers hit the ground across the country, collecting thousands of petitions and endorsements from medical professionals calling on McDonald’s to take action. Two months later, the biggest name in fast food responded, agreeing to phase out the sale of chicken raised on human antibiotics.

WE’VE FOUGHT TO RECLAIM OUR DEMOCRACY FOR THE PEOPLE
The Citizens United decision changed the landscape of our elections, allowing Super PACs and mega-donors to drown out the voices of ordinary voters. That’s why we’re working to empower regular Americans through a system that matches small contributions to candidates who don’t take large or corporate contributions, a system that’s already working in places like New York City. We helped win similar legislation in Maryland, and now we’re focusing our efforts in cities and states across the country.

WE’VE STOPPED HIGHWAY BOONDOGGLES
Younger Americans are driving less, and looking for more transportation options like public transportation, biking, and ride-sharing. But despite this, we’re still spending too much on highway expansion projects, instead of investing in alternatives or repairing the roads and bridges we’ve already got. Our Impact organizers took on some of the most wasteful “highway boondoggles” across the country, stopping some entirely, and sending others back to the drawing board.