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The Climate Citizens Story

At Grist we have a clear bias: The science of climate change is sound and the world must act. The global community must reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases being pumped into the atmosphere, and the U.S. government must enact a comprehensive program to help achieve this goal and encourage other nations to act.

Climate Citizens is our effort to track the openness of U.S. lawmakers on climate change. It is, at heart, an accountability project. Members of Congress and the president should go on the record and make clear their views on climate and energy policy. Likewise, we need to know the stances of interest groups that have a stake in climate and energy policy; the American people should understand how they are working privately and publicly to shape legislation and policy.

Questions we want to answer:

Are lawmakers delivering clear information to voters about where they stand on climate change?

Are interest groups being open about their stances on climate and energy?

Are voters informed about the lobbying efforts and campaign fundraising being driven by groups interested in influencing climate legislation?

Which interest groups are advertising directly to the American people, and how truthful are their messages?

What’s up in the fight against climate change? Help us find out!

Take Action

Do your senators support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill? Write them and ask (here’s a sample letter), then tell us what you find out.

The Sitch in the Senate

Check out our special series on senators’ climate stances.

Find out how transparent senators’ websites are.

How Things Stand

U.S. House: Climate bill passed

U.S. Senate: Climate bill pending

International: Big global climate talks to be held in Copenhagen in December

Learn More

Get Involved

Tell us what you know about lawmakers’ stances and interest groups’ activities related to climate change.

Climate Citizen Videos

Chats with interesting people about climate change:

More links