NCEL Releases New Strategic Plan to Strengthen State Leadership on the Environment

Overview

For nearly 30 years, the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL) has served as a trusted resource and convener for state lawmakers committed to environmental leadership. Today, that work is more urgent than ever.

As environmental challenges grow in complexity and urgency — from biodiversity loss to climate-driven disasters, from energy affordability to environmental justice — so too must our strategies. That’s why we’re proud to share NCEL’s 2025-2029 Strategic Plan, outlining tangible steps we’re taking to equip legislators with the tools, knowledge, and partnerships they need to lead with impact!

NCEL’s Focus Areas for Maximizing Impact

The Strategic Plan highlights how NCEL is already turning strategy into action and how we will expand our impact in the coming years across five core focus areas:

1. Cultivate State Environmental Champions: NCEL will continue to grow our dynamic and engaged membership, expand the number of bipartisan champions, and provide targeted opportunities for multi-state collaboration to replicate and scale legislator success.

2. Catalyze Policy Innovations: NCEL will continue to support policy innovation by fostering strategic collaboration between legislators, subject matter experts, Tribal Nations, and local communities to create new, locally relevant policy design.

3. Uphold Environmental Protections: NCEL will deepen its work with legislators, helping them find opportunities to fill cuts to state budgets that result from federal actions and push back against rollbacks to regulations that impact states.

4. Utilize the Full Power of State Legislators: NCEL will continue to help legislators across the country to discover, understand, and utilize innovative and effective ways to make change possible through the broad variety of available paths, in addition to legislation.

5. Foster Trusted Partnerships: NCEL will continue expanding its reach and depth of engagement with key stakeholder audiences, providing trusted data, insight, guidance, tools, and expertise to support the range of organizations and sectors crucial to the success of environmental and energy outcomes.

Looking Ahead

As the federal landscape remains uncertain, NCEL is helping legislators shape the future of environmental and community solutions from the ground up! Whether you’re an elected official, a partner organization, or a concerned citizen, your engagement powers this work. Thank you for being part of the NCEL network, and for believing in the power of state leadership to instill lasting environmental change. Explore NCEL’s full 2025 – 2029 Strategic Plan to learn more.