The Biden-Harris Administration should facilitate the transition to a clean grid by aggressively supporting utility-scale renewable energy resources in rural areas that are connected to urban centers through modernized high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission.

Bold Energy and Environment Policy for 2025 and Beyond

Prior to the 2024 Presidential election, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) called on experts and practitioners in science and technology communities to come forward with their solutions for the next administration. We asked for ideas on updating energy systems, decarbonizing the built environment, and addressing the risks and cascading impacts of climate change. In the spirit of democratizing policymaking and working across the aisle, we kept our minds open to the community’s ideas. Day One 2025 is based on our vision of policy entrepreneurship—those with an idea, and the right platform, coaching, and connections, can start a movement.

Experts from FAS’s networks developed, refined, or resurfaced policy proposals that aim to strengthen the national economy, protect natural resources, and promote the health and safety of communities. Each policy memo is an independent idea based on the authors’ expertise, values, and priorities. This report highlights recommendations for consideration by the next administration. Topline themes include:

The Day One approach of concisely outlining the challenges, opportunities, and specific steps for policymakers has a record of success and a proud history behind it—Manhattan Project scientists who left the laboratories for Washington to advocate for scientific transparency, civilian control, and peaceful use of the atom. In that spirit, FAS’s 2025 energy and environment recommendations aim to bring us closer to a more prosperous, equitable, and safe future.

Update the Energy System

Americans need affordable and abundant power. Meeting the public’s energy needs and expectations requires boldly pursuing ambitious concepts such as fusion and modernizing how energy is transmitted.

Break Ground on Next-Generation Geothermal Energy by Alice Wu

Geothermal technology commercialization could unlock tens of thousands of times more energy resources than available in untapped fossil fuels, but the U.S. has underinvested in developing commercial-scale geothermal. The Department of Energy (DOE) could take several actions to accelerate commercialization, such as leasing agency land for project development, providing milestone payments for drilling projects, creating a risk insurance program, or providing a production subsidy. While additional Congressional appropriations are needed, some existing Office of Clean Energy Demonstration (OCED) appropriations could be reallocated to geothermal programs.

Coming soon: Hire for a More Flexible Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Jacob Robertson

Engage Coal Communities in Decarbonization through Nuclear Energy by Nathan Woofter, and Jacob Robertson

Retiring coal plants are promising sites for new nuclear power plants, but developers face high risks from licensing timeline uncertainties and potential opposition from local communities. The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) and DOE can serve central, coordinating roles to support project developers’ community engagement efforts. These agencies can provide technical assistance and expand additional programs, such as the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), to build more specialized expertise in social aspects of nuclear power acceptance. DOE and Department of Labor (DOL) can also develop training standards for select nuclear plant jobs that would require additional extensive training or licensing for local coal industry workers.

Promote Fusion Energy Leadership with Tritium Production by Taylor Loy

National security and nonproliferation goals could be furthered by a systematic transition from fission to fusion energy, but fusion energy is nascent, and a single first-of-a-kind fusion reactor will require more tritium fuel than is currently available from civilian-use inventories. The administration should designate a “Gigatons-to-Gigawatts” (GtG) czar to review Presidential Policy Directive 9 for tritium demand requirements with the Nuclear Weapons Council and other agencies. DOE should consider aligning GtG tritium production targets with progress in the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, review DOE Technical Standards for tritium-related radiological risks, and coordinate review of the tritium supply chain infrastructure within National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should review radioactive dose calculations in the Federal Guidance Report on External Exposure to Radionuclides in Air, Water, and Soil (FGR 15) last issued in 2019.

Create a National HVDC Transmission Network by John Tracey

High voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission could increase grid transmission capacity, efficiency, stability, and security, but permitting issues have challenged HVDC transmission projects. Private developers are pursuing underground HVDC transmission along existing rights of ways, such as existing rail corridors. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) should order independent system operators (ISOs) to review renewable and transmission projects on separate tracks to accelerate permitting, and encourage ISOs review old transmission interconnection rules that do not account for the benefits of HVDC. DOE should also consider co-locating National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) with rail, highways, and existing transmission.

Deploy Innovations to Modernize the Electric Grid by Adam Cohen, David Catarious, and Matt Schaub

Electrical grid failure could disrupt critical sectors such as finance, healthcare, transportation, defense, agriculture, and manufacturing. Grid modernization requires components manufactured through a trusted, domestic supply chain, which could create jobs across the country, including at small businesses and startups, and the creation of new intellectual property. The administration should establish a Grid Resilience Innovation Demonstration (GRID) Network, run in partnership between DOE and the Department of Defense (DoD), to test and accelerate deployment of such grid modernization technologies.

Use Other Transactions to Accelerate the Clean Energy Transition by Ryan Buscaglia

Securing American energy dominance requires advancing novel technologies across transportation, electricity generation, industrial production, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). DOE could better support technology commercialization of these areas and more by mitigating market risk and investing in projects alongside private investors. DOE’s Office of Acquisition Management should provide resources to educate program and contracting staff on using other transactions authority (OTAs) to advance the agency’s mission.

Prioritize Land Stewardship in BLM Solar Arrays by Allison Jackson, and Byron Kominek

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) designated over 31 million acres of federal land across 11 states as priority zones for future solar development, but about 30 million acres of this land will overlap with current livestock grazing allotments, potentially decreasing economic opportunities for American ranchers. BLM’s right-of-way application materials should require applicants to address how solar arrays will be planned, designed, and operated to support traditional ranching practices and surrounding rural economies.

Coming soon: Improve Data Center Efficiency with Thermal Networks by Rebecca Kilberg

Enhance American Leadership and Influence with Global Energy Investment by Katie Auth

National security priorities increasingly depend on the energy security of key allies, including developing and emerging economies. The administration should work with Congress to mandate and enable the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to lead interagency implementation of “Energy Security Compacts,” bilateral investment and support packages for allies whose energy security is closely tied to U.S. priorities. Implementation requires amending the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to add a business line for MCC’s Compact operations and grant authority.

Forward Distributional Justice with Community Navigator Programs by Zoë Brouns

State, local, and Tribal governments face challenges in accessing federal funds promised by Congress, but community navigator programs can help relieve agencies of the burdens related to federal funding, including permitting. DOE could establish Partnership Intermediary Agreements with local entities to better understand specific challenges and capacity needs facing different areas around the country.

Prepare for Extreme Weather While Ensuring Resilient Systems and Communities

The Nation faces increasing threats from wildfire, floods, tropical storms, heat, and other extreme weather. Protecting American health, property, and well-being requires updating critical infrastructure and building on a proud history of environmental stewardship.

Reduce Wildfire Risk and Support Community Recovery

The federal government spends billions of dollars every year on wildfire suppression and recovery, but the size and intensity of fires continues to grow, increasing the costs to human health, property, and the economy. The federal government should build wildfire resilience with investments in proactive risk reduction and community recovery after fires. The federal government should create a Wildfire Intelligence Center, invest in proactive risk reduction in the built and natural environments (including beneficial fire), support a robust wildfire workforce, and protect communities and workers from the health impacts of wildfire smoke.

Respond to Extreme Heat and Transform the Built and Landscaped Environment

Immediate action is needed to address rising temperatures across the Nation, and further transforming the built and landscaped environments will increase resilience. The administration and Congress should establish a clear and sustained federal governance structure for extreme heat, including empowering and funding the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and designating a central National Heat Coordinator in the White House.

Maintain Access to Clean Water by Lori Adornato

Many regions are experiencing prolonged drought water shortage risks due rising temperatures, extreme heat, and overpumping. The administration should develop a comprehensive national water policy to maintain Americans’ access to clean water, identify and invest in agricultural improvements to address drought and extreme heat, and invest in water replenishment infrastructure to maintain critical reservoirs.

Coming soon: Predict and Plan for Extreme Flooding Events by Katie Hoeberling, and Emelia Williams

Achieve Net-Zero Soil Loss by 2050 by Elizabeth Stulberg, Jo Handelsman, Kayla Cohen, and Ray Boyle

Healthy soil is essential for food production, but extreme climate events and certain industrial farming practices are rapidly depleting our Nation’s soil. Soil loss reduces crop yields, destroys the habitats of species that are critical to food production, hurts farmers financially, and contributes to the climate crisis. The federal government should take several actions to achieve net-zero soil loss by 2050, including advancing soil research and data collection, helping farmers implement soil-protective practices, supporting “soil entrepreneurs,” and investing in the agricultural workforce.

Coming soon: Enhance Planning for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure by Sean Lahav, and Matt Bucchin

Coming soon: Leverage Public-Private Partnerships to Build Resilient Communities by Morgan Rielly

Coming soon: Protect As-Risk Populations from the Effects of Climate Emergencies by Arnab Ghosh

Build More Houses in Future Receiving Cities by Yuliya Panfil, and Tim Robustelli

An estimated 20 million Americans will relocate in the coming decades to escape extreme heat, drought, sea-level rise and natural disasters. Many anticipated “Receiving Cities” – places like Cincinnati, Duluth, Buffalo and Detroit – could benefit from the economic stimulus and revitalization, but these places aren’t positioned to support an influx of residents. The federal government should designate “Receiving Cities” to allocate funds and tax incentives aimed at producing and preserving affordable housing.

Strengthen American Industry and Workforce

American prosperity is deeply tied to the health of industry, a productive R&D system, and international competitiveness. Securing American jobs and national competitiveness requires strong support for nascent technologies and products.

Enable a Mature Critical Minerals Market by Alice Wu

The U.S. has invested in domestic critical minerals projects to reduce supply chain concentration, but domestic offtake negotiations have been delayed or canceled due to global price decreases. DOE should subsidize the price floor for offtake agreements, establish a critical minerals reserve, and support price discovery and transparency to encourage a mature battery-grade critical minerals markets. While the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) could use uncommitted funds for some of these activities, Congress should provide additional appropriations.

Align Workforce Investment for Energy Security and Supply Chain Resilience by Elizabeth Vance, and Jay Sullivan

The U.S. faces human capital challenges in industrial transformation to reinforce energy security and supply chain resilience. Coordinated investment in training is needed to lower recruitment, selection, and training costs for firms while increasing productivity and moving people into the middle class. The National Economic Council (NEC) and Economic Development Administration (EDA) should launch an Energy Security Workforce Training (ESWT) Initiative to focus existing federal support for education and training on emerging energy jobs.

Create Jobs in the Energy Transition by David Foster

The U.S. energy sector can create jobs through deployment of new technologies, construction of new infrastructure, and expansion of the electricity system. The administration should establish an Energy Workforce and Economic Development Extension Program (EWEDEP) to provide technical advice to the state decarbonization plans, restore the interagency Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Initiative (EAMWI) to coordinate workforce curriculum development across agencies, create a training program on Community Benefits Plans (CBPs) and Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), establish a national public-private commission on steel decarbonization, and restore the DOE Labor Working Group to provide monthly guidance on implementing high wage strategies in the energy sector.

Protect Workers from Extreme Heat through Workplace Cooling by June Spector

Extreme heat is a growing threat to the health and productivity of workers and businesses. The administration should form a multiagency working group to develop a building design approach that integrates worker health and energy-efficiency considerations. The working group should also establish strategies to accelerate and evaluate deployment and maintenance of energy-efficient, worker-centric cooling solutions.

Address Training, Startups, and Risk in Industrial Sector Carbon Capture by Katerina Graf

Large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are expensive and high-risk investments. Multiple companies have developed smaller-scale, modular alternatives that face challenges in scaling and ensuring U.S. leadership in the rapidly growing CCS market. DOE should invest in these technologies and in Americans by establishing a vocational CCS training program, launching an accelerator to commercialize modular CCS for the industrial sector, and creating a private-facing CCS Innovation Connector to increase stability and investment.

Lay the Foundation for a Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete Industry by Alice Wu

Novel low-carbon cement and concrete projects are challenged by developers’ need for long-term offtake agreements to secure private-sector financing and the construction industry’s ad hoc procurement norms. Considering the federal government’s role as the single largest buyer of concrete, DOE should use OTAs to issue double-sided auctions, contracts for difference, or price and volume guarantees to help companies meet their offtake needs and unlock financing for commercial-scale projects.

Launch an Earthshot for Clean Steel and Aluminum by Jake Higdon, and Rachel Pierson

Global decarbonization requires reducing the emissions of steel and concrete production, the largest sources of CO2 emissions in the industrial sector, but approaches to replace high-temperature heat and to address local air pollutants are complex and untested. DOE should launch a new “Earthshot” to drive zero-emissions iron, steel, and aluminum production to cost parity with traditional production within a decade. 

Create a National Center for Bioengineering Solutions by Jennifer Panlilio, and Hanny Rivera

Biotechnology and bioengineering can help address climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental toxins and pollution, but these approaches have not been widely commercialized because returns on investment are too uncertain, slow, or small to motivate private capital. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) should launch the CLimate Improvements through Modern Biotechnology (CLIMB) Center to address this market failure with safe and equitable research, development, and commercialization of environmental biotechnology that will further solidify U.S. leadership in biotechnology.

Coming soon: Reduce Medical Waste by Ali Melnyk

Support Effective Research and Actionable Data

The Nation’s research enterprise extends the frontier of knowledge and creates evidence that can shape how we anticipate, experience, and respond to a changing planet. Better decisions are made and taxpayer dollars are saved when research and analysis are coordinated and action-oriented.

Promote Glacier Resilience and Strengthen American Competitiveness by Brent Minchew, Lauren Mahle, Pritha Ghosh, Mai Sistla, and Erik N. Martin

Polar regions are an important venue for strategic competition and recent actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia in the Arctic undermine regional stability. The administration should launch a Polar/Antarctic strategy to enhance U.S. national security, promote American leadership, deter our adversaries, and prevent disastrous ice sheet collapse. This strategy involves research and development of engineering methods to slow the loss of glaciers and rates of sea-level rise.

Create a Digital Service for the Planet by Tim Male, Jessie Mahr, and Reed Van Beveren

Environmental data are held and managed by multiple federal agencies, making them difficult to standardize, share, and use to meet environmental, health, and justice goals. The administration should create a Digital Service for the Planet (DSP) to support cross-agency technology development, improve digital infrastructure to foster collaboration, and reduce duplication of federal environmental efforts. DSP should be an expansion or model of the U.S. Digital Service and be staffed with specialists who have prior experience on environmental projects.

Integrate Community Data into Environmental Governance by Emelia Williams, and Katie Hoeberling

Frontline communities are increasingly collecting data on the disproportionate impacts of environmental pollution, but much of this data is challenging to integrate into federal systems for environmental research and governance. EPA should build internal capacity for recognizing and applying such data, facilitating connections between data communities, and addressing misalignments with data standards.

Leverage Positive Tipping Points to Accelerate Decarbonization by Alice Wu

New economic modeling has enabled identification of “positive tipping points,” which mark thresholds in decarbonization that, once crossed, ensure rapid progress towards completion. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) should conduct a joint evaluation of these new economic models. Based on their recommendations, agencies should integrate positive tipping points into the research and policy agendas of existing research centers and programs.

Support Agricultural Sustainability with Research on Genetically Engineered Organisms by Vivian Zhong

Bioengineering research has produced an array of genetically engineered organisms that can ensure resource conservation and resilience of American farms and fields. New crops can be engineered to require fewer chemical inputs; boost resilience to drought, flood, and pathogens; sequester carbon; and even improve the nutritional profile. Congress should use the Farm Bill renewal to authorize genetic engineering research by incorporating it into existing research programs. Congress should also fully appropriate funds for the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AgARDA) to further enable moonshot R&D projects, such as engineering more resilient crops with genetically complex traits.

Mobilize Innovative Financial Mechanisms for Extreme Heat Adaptation in Developing Nations by Autumn Burton, and Irene Ngun

Rising global temperatures exacerbate health issues such as malnutrition and disease, which disproportionately affect low-income and vulnerable communities in the U.S. and internationally. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) should use results-based financing to scale adaptation solutions and develop extreme heat decision-support tools with NIHHIS under the SERVIR joint initiative. USAID Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security (REFS) should also lead tracking and reporting on climate adaptation funding data to ensure transparency and that funding are effectively prioritized. 

Additional Resources

FAS envisions a world where cutting-edge science, technology, ideas and talent are deployed to solve the biggest challenges of our time. Learn more about our initiatives on energy and environment.

Clean Energy

Energy is the lifeblood of economies. More efficient commercialization, innovative research, and effective deployment of energy decarbonization technologies has never been more important.

Wildland Fire

The Nation is experiencing more frequent and intense wildland fires. Policy informed by science, evidence, and Indigenous perspectives can lessen the disastrous effects.

Extreme Heat 

Extreme heat affects infrastructure, energy, housing, health, security, and more. Resilience requires a “whole of government” federal approach.

These action-ready policy memos are part of Day One 2025 — our effort to bring forward bold policy ideas, grounded in science and evidence, that can tackle the country’s biggest challenges and bring us closer to the prosperous, equitable and safe future that we all hope for whoever takes office in 2025 and beyond.