The Case for City-led Housing Retrofits in New York City
In New York City, policy discussions about housing affordability tend to focus on rent freezes, land-use reform, and public investment in new affordable housing. Yet housing …
Our Research
Climate and Community Institute (CCI) creates research that connects issues that dominate our political economy directly with the climate crisis. We lay the groundwork for ambitious and creative climate goals in the near term, and build the vision for a just, decarbonized future.
Industrialized Construction in New York City: Unlocking Affordably-Built Affordable Housing
Strategic investments in an innovative building approach called industrialized construction could accelerate progress toward New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s goal of constructing 200,000 new affordable, union-built, …
Neighborhood-Scale Building Decarbonization: A Toolkit for Advocates and Implementers
The dominant approach to decarbonizing homes today is for individual building owners to switch to electric appliances and, in some cases, install solar. In reality, this …
Trump’s Illegal Invasion of Venezuela Forebodes an Environmental Disaster
The US’s illegal invasion of Venezuela on January 3, 2026 exacerbates global instability, geoeconomic uncertainty, and accelerates atmospheric and biospheric breakdown. Returning Venezuelan oil production to …
Mining for War: Assessing the Pentagon’s Mineral Stockpile
The Pentagon is rapidly expanding its stockpile of the so-called “critical minerals” it deems essential for military industries. Many of these same materials—known as energy transition …
End Point or Setback? A Retrospective of the Maine Public Power Ballot Initiative
In November 2023, Maine voted against a ballot initiative to establish a consumer-owned utility, Pine Tree Power, that would replace the two existing privately-owned utilities. Although …
Supply Chain Solidarity Principles
The transition to zero carbon transportation has initiated major social and economic shifts: a boom in new mine development to supply transition minerals needed to manufacture …
Supply Chain Solidarity: Lessons from the Lithium Frontlines
Workers and organizers, representing different parts of the transportation supply chain, journey across Nevada to learn first-hand about the impacts of lithium mining for electric vehicle …
Financial Distress in the Multifamily Rental Market, and What It Means for Tenants
Financial distress in the multifamily market is on the rise in the United States, with loan delinquencies nearly doubling in the last year alone and recently …
Healthy School Finance: Rethinking Debt in the Movement for Green Public Education Facilities
Public school infrastructure in the United States received a grade of D+ from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2025. Deferred maintenance, toxic materials, …
