There is no sugarcoating how bad the consequences of the recent election will be for the United States and for the world.

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump will take the oath of office and become the 47th President of the United States. Within hours, he will almost certainly withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, notwithstanding opposition from some in the fossil fuel industry itself. He may go further and withdraw the United States from the UNFCC framework that allows United States participation in international climate negotiations. In the weeks, months, and years that follow, President Trump will open up our few remaining precious natural wonders to exploitation. He will reverse much of the regulatory progress achieved by the Biden administration and eviscerate many of the planet-saving provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. He will use the immense powers of the Presidency to accelerate those very activities — namely, the burning of fossil fuels — that increase our peril.

Much that was gained will be lost. But perhaps not as much as we fear. The U.S. fossil fuel industry is already producing record amounts of oil and natural gas. The industry cannot let supply exceed demand without seeing declines in its profits. President Trump’s attempts to roll back the regulatory achievements of the past four years will be met with fierce legal resistance by the federal bureaucracy, environmental law organizations and advocacy groups, as well as blue states and cities. The very Supreme Court ruling that limited the ability of agencies to interpret legislation will frustrate those who seek to do more mischief legislatively. And with the cost of clean energy continuing its rapid and relentless decline, the rest of the world will continue the energy transition even in the absence of U.S. leadership. Eventually, Americans will wonder why they pay so much more for dirty polluting energy than the rest of the world is paying for clean energy.

We’ve been asked: What will Climate Action Now’s response be? What will we do differently? The answer is, not much. It was always a given that the post-election focus of the climate movement would be on state, local, and corporate action. Even if Kamala Harris had won, we would still be facing a divided federal government and a Republican Party that was implacably opposed to any further federal climate legislation. That’s why we implemented the new feature that allows you to directly contact your City Council members and mayors (in most cities with populations over 100,000.) And we will continue our advocacy with corporations.

We begin by taking up again the rallying cry that swept the nation the last time Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement. “We’re still in!“

Yes, we’re still in, we always have been. We always will be.

And let’s acknowledge that our rallying cry signifies not only our commitment to the Paris Agreement but to the larger goal of securing a just and sustainable life lived in harmony with the natural world.

Stay engaged with us to learn what can be done to achieve all that can be achieved, and to take our first steps on this new path. In the weeks and months that follow, we will host action parties with other organizations to showcase their responses and answers to the challenges we now face. There will be much to learn and much to be gained.

Join us!