Over the course of 2023, the U.S. experienced unprecedented climate progress. Solar energy capacity grew by 31 gigawatts and 1.2 million EVs were sold, demonstrating the scale of impact that was accomplished. States continued to be at the forefront of this progress by implementing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and by advancing climate policies. There was a lot to celebrate throughout the year as numerous state policies were enacted across the country, such as Minnesota and Michigan adopting 100 percent clean energy standards. As the IRA rolls out, we are seeing additional states participate in climate planning, with 46 states and territories applying for funding in 2023 and submitting Priority Climate Action Plans (PCAPs) – for 23 states, this is their first significant climate plan! 

This great progress builds the momentum we need to address the challenges ahead, and states will continue spearheading the necessary policies to drive climate action further. Climate XChange (CXC) is uniquely positioned to play a key role in bolstering state actors by building actionable research tools, facilitating cross-state collaboration, and designing tailored policy assistance. We aim to empower state policymakers and advocates to implement solutions that meet the urgency of the climate crisis by rapidly and equitably reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This report summarizes our contribution to state climate action, and I am incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished in the last year. We continued to gather community support for our environmental justice campaign in Maryland, receiving 60 favorable testimonies for the bill our coalition advocated for. Our State Climate Policy Network (SCPN) hosted 21 events attended by more than 6,000 state actors, and our State Climate Policy Dashboard accumulated 75,000 page views. These numbers tell a story of the climate movement’s engagement with our work and the unique role CXC plays in supporting actors in all 50 states.

In 2023, we also continued building the foundations for our future as we implemented our strategic plan. We were able to gain a deeper understanding of our network through our new CRM and provide the basis for a feedback plan to better meet our audience’s needs. We also invested in a plan to revamp our Dashboard to make this tool even more useful and actionable for advancing state climate policies. Additionally, we partnered with RMI to support the development of 20 State Climate Scorecards and with EPIC and Beech Hill Research to understand the barriers to Justice40 implementation.

All this work was only possible thanks to our funders and supporters, and we are immensely grateful for their support of our mission. We are proud that during 2023, we more than doubled our support from foundations and a majority of our EV raffle sales came from previous participants! As we continue to strengthen Climate XChange, we’ll be better positioned to bolster the efforts of the larger climate movement. Lastly, I am immensely grateful for our Board of Directors, who have guided our organization’s progress with dedication and entrepreneurial spirit. 

I am truly proud of what we have accomplished in 2023 and for what’s to come in 2024!

By connecting advocates, policymakers, and subject matter experts, our State Climate Policy Network (SCPN) leverages the existing expertise of the climate movement to share best practices across state lines and ensure policies are informed by the latest science. In 2023, we focused on better understanding our Network and tailoring our offerings with our members’ needs in mind. We increased our data capabilities by transitioning to a Customer Relationship Management platform fit for our network’s size and depth, and began preparing for a network-wide survey in 2024 aimed at improving our offerings and better supporting the climate movement.

We also continued providing timely, actionable information and updates to the Network. In 2023:

We hosted seven Deep Dive webinars on various climate policy topics with a total audience of 5,156

We hosted 10 national policy calls highlighting current state climate policy updates from SCPN actors, reaching an audience of 1,040

We completed 51 tailored policy assistance requests for SCPN actors, powered by our State Climate Policy Dashboard

We provided direct connections to experts from state legislatures, nonprofit advocacy groups, state agencies, local governments, and research institutes

Equity is central to the mission of the SCPN and the climate movement at large, which is why we’ve kept a close eye on Justice40 implementation. Alongside the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) and Beech Hill Research, we interviewed state agency staffers across the country to understand the barriers to implementing Justice40. We shared our findings and best practices directly with SCPN members, the White House Justice Advisory Council, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Transportation to ensure federal funding is reaching the communities that need it the most.

Our State Climate Policy Dashboard was launched in 2021 and remains the most comprehensive publicly accessible database available for state climate policy. In the past year, we tracked and monitored thousands of bills and regulations under consideration across all 50 states, adding enacted measures to our database of more than 65 different types of state-level climate policies. In 2023, the Dashboard helped more than 23,000 viewers research state climate policy and was cited by other leading organizations and agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, and the United Nations. Our Dashboard helped power a number of key initiatives in 2023 to drive state policy progress.

We fulfilled 51 Policy Assistance requests from Network members through research supported by the Dashboard.

We continued authoring Dashboard Digest articles for the SCPN. To date, we have authored 20 articles covering various aspects of electricity, buildings, and industrial policy with nine pieces published in 2023.

We expanded our biweekly Policy Progress updates to include enacted federal policies and open funding opportunities. We provided 82 updates covering 24 states and the federal government.

We partnered with RMI to create 2023 State Climate Scorecards. Using the in-depth data from our Dashboard combined with RMI and Energy Innovation’s Energy Policy Simulator, we modeled policy scenarios that measure climate progress to date and remaining policy gaps in 20 states.

Additionally, in 2023 we began developing a strategy to improve the Dashboard’s capabilities and user experience in order to serve the climate movement better. It will provide users with more sophisticated ways to identify and advance policy opportunities, including highlighting model states and rules, increasing the site’s policy coverage, and providing tools to compare policies across state lines.

7
Policy Areas

65+
Policies

Our team in Maryland leads the Rebuild Maryland Coalition, a diverse group of stakeholders working to reduce pollution and put frontline communities first. The coalition supports the Climate Crisis and Environmental Justice Act (CCEJ), a bill that will generate billions of dollars in funding to reach the state’s climate targets of the Climate Solutions Now Act while investing in overburdened, underserved, and low- and moderate-income communities.

In 2023, the coalition began preparing a robust campaign for the 2024 legislative session. We expanded our team, hiring a new organizer, bolstering our lobbying support, and increasing the number of coalition members. We also created a new visual identity and website for the coalition, allowing us to represent its mission and principles better, share resources and campaign updates, and explain how the CCEJ will support Maryland’s clean energy transition.

In the 2024 Session, the CCEJ was introduced by Delegate Diana M. Fennell (47A), Assistant Speaker Pro Tem (2020) and member of the Economic Matters Committee and cosponsored by five additional members of the House. At the bill’s hearing in February, 60 favorable testimonies were submitted, including two letters from 20 additional organizations voicing their support. Even though the CCEJ didn’t pass this session, we are proud of the strong support it received from legislators and community members.

Our work is only possible due to the generous support from our community. Thank you to all the individuals and foundations who contributed to our mission in 2023.

Foundations Supporting our Programs