2025 look-ahead: protecting consumers, nature; cleaning up our air, water

DENVER – The work of building a better future requires persistence and patience. Making significant progress is rarely easy, but it is always possible — and as The Public Interest Network has proven for more than half a century, incremental steps often lead to lasting change. The network’s PIRG, Environment America and state groups look forward to effecting positive social change in 2025 on a national, state and local level. 

“Americans have a lot more commonalities than differences. That message may get lost in social media echo chambers, but it is crucial to remember so, together, we can build a healthier, safer country and a better world for future generations,” said PIRG President Faye Park. “In 2025, PIRG will focus on finding common ground to advance commonsense solutions. We look forward to working with our supporters, members, allies and even those who disagree with us on many things but agree with us on one thing. That’s truly representing the public interest.”

“Many Americans are worried about the fate of the environment in 2025, while others can’t wait for a change,” said Environment America Executive Director Lisa Frank. “Indeed, we face some big challenges as well as opportunities: Development is gobbling up prairies and forests, there’s toxic PFAS and plastic pellets in our waterways, and wildlife — from bees and butterflies to whales — is disappearing. But if we all work together, we can safeguard clean air, clean water and the Great American Outdoors. We look forward to doing just that alongside our allies, members and supporters who envision a cleaner, happier, healthier country.”

Below are our priority campaigns for 2025 and beyond. Please contact us for data, context or quotes on any of the issues listed below.

State campaigns:

Clean energy: 

• Continuing our work to cut red tape for residential rooftop solar panels, making it as fast, easy and affordable as possible for people to produce solar energy at home.
• Supporting states’ efforts to steadily increase the percentage of energy they are generating from clean, renewable sources.
• Promoting legislation to increase energy conservation and efficiency and educate the public about the benefits of clean energy homes.

Conservation: 

• Saving the bees and other pollinators by passing new state policies to protect them from toxic neonicotinoid insecticides. We plan to support related legislation in at least California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and Oregon.
• Providing resources and tools for communities to make their homes, neighborhoods and cities greener and more wild by protecting and expanding green space, planting trees and using lighting that doesn’t interfere with wildlife foraging, sleeping or breeding.
• Encouraging states to invest in wildlife crossings and corridors, to help connect fractured habitats and make our roads safer for both people and animals.
• In coastal states: protecting our oceans from pollution, opposing offshore drilling and saving endangered marine species such as right whales.

Consumer protection:

• Working to pass more data privacy bills similar to the one that passed in Nebraska; strengthen existing laws that contain loopholes and make it hard for consumers to enforce their data privacy rights.

Clean water: 

• Promoting state and local laws to get the lead out of drinking water at schools and child care centers, as Michigan and Philadelphia have done.
• Convincing states to update and invest in clean water and wastewater infrastructure, and stop the discharge into our waterways of harmful contaminants, from plastic pellet pollution to toxic forever chemicals like PFAs.

Clean air: 

• Advocating for cleaner transportation methods such as walking, biking and transit, and for investment in more electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
• Persuading cities, states and companies to support the transition to electric lawn care equipment.

Right to Repair: 

• Conserving resources and combatting electronic waste by adding more states to the list of those passing Right to Repair legislation, as Oregon, California, Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, Maine and Colorado have done in recent years.
• Supporting state bills to establish repair scores, so consumers will know which electronic products are easier to fix and thereby extend their life, rather than throw them away.

Zero waste: 

• Educating the public, lawmakers and companies about the problem of e-waste.
• Continuing our work to eliminate wasteful single-use plastics, requiring companies to be responsible for the environmental impact of their packaging and laying the groundwork for a shift away from single-use products to reusable and/or refillable ones.
• Passing more state legislation, such as California’s Responsible Textile Recovery Act, to combat fast fashion waste.

Federal campaigns: 

Clean energy: 

• Let Americans choose clean energy by maintaining tax incentives for solar panels, electric vehicles, more energy-efficient home appliances and wind power.

Consumer protections:

• Ensuring Congress continues to support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Educating the public and lawmakers about how the CFPB ensures more fairness and freedom for consumers in the marketplace.
• Convincing Congress to act to lower prescription drug prices by passing laws such as the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act.
• Encouraging more federal action to tackle unsafe products and unwanted robocalls, and to fix our broken food recall system.

Right to Repair: 

• Working to get Congress to pass new federal bills that will make it easier for consumers, farmers and the military to fix their stuff.

Clean water: 

• Stopping the dumping and spilling of microplastic into our waterways by convincing Congress to pass the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act.
• Making our waterways safe for swimming by investing in clean water infrastructure.

Conservation: 

• Getting Congress to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. That legislation would fund state plans to save declining species, from bison to manatees.
• Expand habitat for at-risk bees, monarch butterflies and other pollinators by funding the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Program and using native plants in landscaping.
• Reconnecting nature by convincing Congress to pass wildlife corridors policies such as the Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act.
• Educating the public about the importance of older forests, such as the approximately 51 million acres on federal lands, and the threats facing them from logging.

Corporate campaigns:

• Walmart, FedEx and other big box stores and warehouses: “Help Deliver a Clean Energy Future” – The flat, sunny roofs of big box stores and warehouses are some of the best places to install solar panels. We’ll continue to make the case that companies such as Walmart and FedEx should publicly commit to installing solar panels on all viable roofs and parking lots by 2035.
• Google, Microsoft, Apple and other companies making electronic products: “Let American’s fix their stuff” – We will ensure that companies comply with Right to Repair laws and provide people access to parts, tools and information needed to repair their electronics.
• The Home Depot: We will call on The Home Depot and other companies to reduce their dependence on wood from the boreal forest in Canada. Massive logging in the boreal forest there has left behind a patchwork of isolated stands of trees which are less habitable for wildlife and made the forest more susceptible to wildfire.
• Amazon, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Dunkin’ and others: We will expand our work to get large companies to make meaningful commitments to reduce their plastic packaging and other plastic waste.