The GAO's new report draws heavily from two national-scale studies: one from the EPA and the other is the American Climate Prospectus, authored by Climate Impact Lab members. The federal auditors found that the federal government has not undertaken strategic government-wide planning to manage climate risks by using information on the potential economic effects of climate change to identify significant risks and craft appropriate federal responses.

The American Climate Prospectus (ACP) provides a groundbreaking new analysis of climate risks by region of the country and sector of the economy. By linking state-of-the-art climate models with econometric research of human responses to climate variability and cutting edge private sector risk assessment tools, the ACP offers decision-makers a data driven assessment of the specific risks they face.