Greenpeace is a media-savvy advocacy group historically focused on environmental, anti-nuclear, and energy issues. It has both a U.S.-based and a worldwide organization. They specialize in direct-action and investigative research. Wikipedia.
CAN is actually a coalition of over 365 NGOs worldwide pushing for action on climate change. They follow international climate treaty negotiations closely. Press Contact.
NRDC is a litigation- and science-oriented national environmental group with a membership of 1.2 million. Wikipedia. Press Contact.
The Climate Institute, founded in 1986, is possibly the oldest single-issue group focused on climate change. Its style is more informational than advocacy-driven, and large conferences and symposia are characteristic activities.
The Pew Center on Global Climate Change is supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which is ultimately based on the family fortunes of the descendants of the founder of the Sun Oil Co. The Pew climate program is a centrist, non-profit advocacy organization "working to create a policy environment that leads to the adoption of mandatory federal limits on emissions that contribute to global warming." Pew works intensely with Fortune 500 companies.
Sierra is perhaps the largest and most politically active of U.S. membership-based environmental groups. Their long-established climate change program is focused on grass-roots organizing and policy advocacy. Wikipedia. Press Contact.
MIT has several entities involved in climate research. The Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change is a cross-cutting program that melds work from MIT's Center for Global Change Science and the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
A major research institute with over 200 scientists focusing on all earth sciences, especially strong on climate-related topics.
NCAR is perhaps the greatest U.S. climate research institution. It draws not merely post-docs, but prominent researchers from around the U.S. and around the globe. It is federally funded via the National Science Foundation and administered by a consortium of universities (UCAR).
This comprehensive study of the vulnerabilities and potential impacts of climate change on the U.S. was mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990. It includes studies looking specifically at 19 different U.S. regions. Assembled by hundreds of experts from academia and elsewhere, it was completed in the late Clinton administration and partly suppressed by the Bush administration.
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