Finance Score: 2

Governance Score: 0

Support Score: 12

Strong growth: +2
No PartB

(no info on trustees)

Endorsed
Overall weighted support: +12

Overall GiG Score: 14

CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE

Overview

Clean Air Task Force addresses the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change through advocating for public policies that enact pollution regulations and by investing in improved energy technologies.

A strong track-record of policy guidance in the US nationally, in areas that have a neglected focus gives them a unique approach that has propelled impact. The wealth of expertise their team hold was formed over a 25-year period and has made them the well-respected institution they are today. Solutions having proven effective domestically in the US has positioned them to expand globally, launching operations in the EU that aim to combat climate change through innovative policy development.

They have received the highest possible 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and have been endorsed as a highly effective organisation by Founders Pledge.

Source: Giving is Great

Mission:

To push the technology and policy changes needed to achieve a zero-emissions, high-energy planet at an affordable cost

Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

This charity is endorsed by respected charity impact evaluators
There has been strong growth in spending over the last 5 years
There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years

Financial Data

Income & Spending ?

Period ending	Income	Spending	Surplus/ Deficit	Fundraising Cost	Assets
31/12/22	$51,134,505	$40,518,743	$10,615,762		$40,740,885
31/12/21	$31,558,232	$20,322,927	$11,235,305	$1,211,576	$31,921,240
31/12/20	$19,592,223	$8,903,012	$10,689,211	$333,090	$19,651,777
31/12/19	$11,386,533	$5,895,213	$5,491,320		$8,133,205
31/12/18	$4,308,208	$6,161,366	-$1,853,158		$2,641,885
31/12/17	$7,605,936	$5,368,687	$2,237,249		$4,495,043
31/12/16	$4,721,438	$5,542,342	-$820,904		$2,257,794

Established: 28 years

www.catf.us/

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How you can help

What it does

Through technology innovation, policy change, and thought leadership, the Clean Air Task Force drives impact to prevent climate change through realistic solutions. They have a unique position to apply pressure to some of the biggest contributors and effect change in the biggest influencers that aids in reduction of carbon and other climate warming emissions

GiG Classification

Climate emergency

Who supports them? ?

How do they operate?

Advanced Energy Systems

Objectives: CATF’s Advanced Energy Systems work aims to bring clarity to the decarbonisation process by, first, illuminating through analysis the kinds of solution sets (as opposed to individual technology widgets) that, in combination, are likely to maximise our chance of success in taming carbon. Second, CATF’s work aims to evaluate and expand the number of technology options we can have available to decarbonise the planet’s energy systems by assessing their feasibility and economics, and then devising plans to bring promising options to commercial status. In this way, CATF tries to move the world beyond a zero-sum climate deadlock into an abundance of solutions allowing progress

Description: CATF’s advanced energy systems project brings analysis to bear on the question of what kind of technologies will be required to achieve an affordable, zero carbon energy system by mid-century, and catalyses private sector activity and public policy to make those technologies into real options. This focus area also explores and advocates for innovation needed in the private sector to advance zero carbon energy options such as advanced geothermal energy and zero carbon direct fuels.

Carbon Capture

Objectives: CATF’s work in carbon capture aims to enable global energy system decarbonization by 2070. CATF works towards this goal by developing and advocating for policies aimed at making carbon capture technologies cost competitive against fossil fuels for power generation and for use in the industrial sector. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can keep millions of tonnes of CO2 emitted from these sources out of the atmosphere, making it a critical tool in the global climate solution toolbox. The individual technologies that comprise carbon capture have been commercially available for many decades, but are only now being harnessed to address global warming

Description: CATF takes into account the role for CCS technology globally as modelled by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and works backwards to develop, evaluate, and implement a roadmap of policies that will allow the technology to scale, deploy globally, and deliver necessary CO2 reductions to meet climate goals. CATF works to ensure that by 2030, carbon capture technologies have achieved cost parity with unabated fossil fuels and that policy pathways exist to help deploy carbon capture globally at a meaningful scale.

Super Pollutants

Objectives: CATF advocates for super pollutant emissions reductions in the U.S. and internationally by supporting scientific research, promoting policy initiatives, encouraging the development of financial incentives for pollution controls, and championing and defending standards that can dramatically reduce emissions of these climate super pollutants

Description: CATF’s super pollutant initiatives are aimed at reducing pollutants that will have the greatest impact on warming the planet over the near term and offer the most promising targets for immediate cleanup. Taken together, efforts to reduce super pollutants globally could prevent more than half a degree C of warming along with numerous other public health and ecological benefits. CATF’s efforts target two of the most concerning short-lived climate pollutants, methane and black carbon. Because these pollutants have a much shorter atmospheric lifespan than CO2, significant cuts in their emissions will yield much faster reductions in planetary warming, as compared to reductions in CO2.

CATF is actively advocating for super pollutant emission reductions in international and domestic venues, supporting scientific research, promoting policy initiatives, encouraging the development of financial incentives for pollution controls, and championing and defending standards that can dramatically reduce emissions of these significant climate pollutants. CATF is currently focused on reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector and black carbon emissions

....more

Bioenergy

Objectives: CATF works to ensure that policies that promote and regulate bioenergy include provisions that accurately assess and address bioenergy’s climate impact

Description: An energy source must be massively scalable if it is going to play a leading role in the transition to zero-carbon energy - but scale presents a unique set of problems for bioenergy. Large-scale biofuel production drives up demand for commodity crops and motivates farmers around the world to convert natural land into farmland, a process that transfers soil- and plant-carbon into the atmosphere. Likewise, given the enormous volume of wood needed to fuel commercial-scale power plants, increased reliance on biomass-based power production could undermine forests’ critically important capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.

Advanced Nuclear Energy

Objectives: CATF aims to make nuclear energy a viable option for decarbonising the world energy system at needed scale and speed. They catalyse private sector and government activity to lower the cost and deployment speed of current nuclear technology

Description: CATF makes nuclear energy a viable option for decarbonising the world energy system through direct strategic engagement on technology and commercial strategies with industry, technology, and academic partners; and through advocacy in the public arena and to investors. They aim to establish a broad portfolio of commercially-available and market-competitive nuclear power generation options within the next 10-20 years that could scale to terawatt levels globally for power, heat and transportation fuels. This portfolio would include current generation water-cooled reactors under an improved delivery model, advanced reactors using mostly non-water coolants and fusion.

Power Plants

Objectives: CATF aims to mitigate climate pollution and the worst damage from climate change through advancing pollution control requirements that in turn create incentives for further improvements in pollution control technology and energy systems design, with the goal of reducing climate and air emissions of the largest sources of those pollutants

Description: CATF works to ensure the adoption of U.S. emission standards (either by legislation or regulations) on U.S. fossil power plants that would zero out power sector carbon emissions.

How effective are they?

Commentary: Clean Air Task Force has played a pivotal role in driving forward a number of key policy changes in the US, including:

• The first national environmental organisation to aggressively push for the commercialisation of carbon capture technologies which resulted in the passage of a federal incentive for carbon capture at up to $35 per tonne (the first-ever federal legislated price on carbon)

• Moved the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to modernise its licensing process to encourage innovative nuclear energy systems that could be safer and less costly

• Initiated and led a successful campaign before the International Maritime Organisation to reduce black carbon and health-related emissions from existing diesel engines, and led an international coalition to curb soot emissions from marine shipping

• Beginning a Diesel Cleanup Campaign resulting in many state and federal initiatives that have gone forward with mandates and funding that will reduce diesel emissions substantially in the coming years. This includes funding for diesel retrofits via federal appropriations and fines resulting from the “Diesel-gate” scandal, now in excess of $2 billion

Who works here?

ARMOND COHEN
Executive Director

Armond Cohen is co-founder and Executive Director of the Clean Air Task Force, which he has led since its formation in 1996. In addition to leading CATF, Armond is directly involved in CATF research and advocacy on the topic of requirements to deeply decarbonize global energy systems. Prior to his work with CATF, Armond founded and led the Conservation Law Foundation’s Energy Project starting in 1983, focusing on energy efficiency, utility ....more

KURT WALTZER
Managing Director

Kurt is responsible for ensuring that CATF has the strategic and operating capabilities it needs to carry out its mission. In this role he provides oversight and support of organisational management and administrative activities, as well as ongoing development and implementation of organisational strategy. In addition, he maintains a focus on Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Sequestration (CCUS) development and deployment under the Decarbonized ....more

ROWAN EMSLIE
Communications Director, Europe

Rowan is based in Brussels, where he leads their communications work in the European Union. He has 10 years of communications experience across the public and private sectors, specialising in multichannel digital communications campaigns. He brings a deep knowledge of social media, SEO, online advertising and digital marketing to CATF. Before joining CATF in 2020, he spend three years building the digital advocacy team at Edelman Brussels. In ....more

MAGNOLIA TOVAR
Zero-Carbon Fuels Policy Director, Europe

Magnolia promotes policy in the EU and member states to expand the role of zero-carbon fuels in heavy transportation and decarbonising heavy industry as well as other sectors. Prior to CATF, she worked for KBR Advisory Consultant where she worked in energy transition projects which included decarbonisation activities and zero-carbon fuels adoption in the industrial, power and transportation sector. While at KBR, she assessed the imports and ....more

How is it governed?

Trustees

Sorry we have no information about the Trustees.

Legal constitution

Not for Profit registered in USA on 01/07/1996, number: US04-3512550

Main office

114 State Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02109