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2026 could turn out to be the hottest year on record. Yet, climate change is now on the back burner while the Trump administration intensifies its all-out assault on climate and environmental actions, as indicated by the president’s attack on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for publishing what he called “fraudulent, biased, and misleading” material on climate change. Still, even the UN General Assembly recognizes that “a clean, healthy and sustainable environment” is a basic human right and this right must be defended.

In the interview that follows, author, naturalist, and a leading scholar of political economy and climate policy James K. Boyce spells out the game-changing policies needed to protect the environment and secure the future of the planet. His proposals are part of the Game Changers project launched by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Boyce is professor emeritus of economics and senior fellow at PERI. He is the author of many books, including Economics for People and the Planet: Inequality in the Era of Climate Change. He is also the recipient of awards including the 2025 Common Wealth Prize, the 2024 Global Inequality Research Award, and the 2017 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.

The interview that follows has been lightly edited.

C. J. Polychroniou: On July 4, 2026, the United States turned 250 years old. Meanwhile, a record-setting heat wave disrupted celebrations of the event across the country, and this summer could end up as one of the U.S.’s hottest ever. An extraordinary heat wave also spread through Europe, triggering deaths and causing “severe infrastructure stress.” To say then that climate has reached the point of breakdown might be an understatement. Yet the Trump administration not only continues to treat climate change as a “hoax” but has launched an all-out assault on the environment, as if totally unaware of the fact that a “clean, healthy, and sustainable environment” is a basic human right. How do we translate this right into reality in the United States?

James K. Boyce: Rights never exist in the abstract; they are won and sustained through struggles. This is as true for environmental rights as it is for the rights to free expression, freedom of assembly, and free and fair elections. The constitutions of some U.S. states affirm the right to a clean and safe environment, and this right has been formally recognized by the United Nations. It is missing, however, from the U.S. Constitution. An important step for translating this right into reality would be a constitutional amendment that guarantees it, but this will take years. In the meantime, much can and should be done to secure a clean and safe environment for all.

Republicans Are Trying to Give Big Oil Immunity for Causing Climate Chaos

For example, fenceline monitoring of air pollution from industrial facilities is now readily affordable. Monitors should be installed near significant pollution sources and their real-time readings made publicly available online. This is especially vital in communities currently overburdened with pollution, often from multiple sources, many of which are politically disadvantaged by race, ethnicity, and class. Information is a source of countervailing power.

There should also be a moratorium on the introduction of new pollution sources in communities already overburdened with pollution. A good model is the landmark........

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