🔗 Share this article

At formal UN media briefings, in swanky auditoriums and at sticky progressive celebrations, one term was on everyone’s lips at this year’s New York Climate Week: affordability.

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said that under President Trump the United States is “returning to practical energy policies that focus on affordability”. The former energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, emphasized Democrats must center on renewable power’s ability to shrink power bills to win elections. And supporters of the likely future New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, trumpeted their efforts to link green policies with actions to lower city residents’ rent and make transit affordable.

The attempt to link daily cost issues to global warming is not new. The concept was a central part of the progressive climate plan, a progressive policy platform championed by youth-led climate group the Sunrise Movement and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018. Joe Biden adopted the approach in the White House, naming his signature green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.

Now, as energy costs soar around the country, Americans on all sides of the ideological divide are framing their energy and climate proposals as ways to protect everyday citizens’ finances.

Key Updates

• Uncovered: The EU losing 600 football pitches of nature and farmland a day
• UK hydraulic fracturing prohibition to be accelerated as Labour counters Reform promise
• Israel’s ecocide in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here

In Focus

Every year, Climate Week in New York City brings together government officials, corporate actors, scholars and campaigners for a wide range of climate-focused events, scheduled to coincide with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s environment-deregulating blitz threw a massive shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials aimed to frame its deregulatory agenda as a victory to reduce Americans’ bills, with Trump labeling green energy a “scam” and Wright saying: “The more people have gotten into supposed climate action, the more expensive their energy has become.”

Climate advocates worked to reveal those statements as false while persuading Americans to support with green policies on the basis that they can lower costs. For instance, two Democratic representatives, from Illinois and California, introduced a plan to speed new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year. Its name: the Cheap Energy Act.

It’s a framework that Jennifer Granholm, who served as US energy secretary under Biden, noted she anticipated as climate falls down the list of public priorities for Americans, while economic worries rise. “My guess is you’re not going to see a lot of politicians using the word ‘climate’, because people see that as a nice-to-have [concern], not a essential, and right now they’re in the must-have mode,” she told reporters during avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is crucial.”

Those well to Granholm’s progressive side also advocated a emphasis on affordability in the climate fight. But many called for more far-reaching solutions that deliver more quick benefits. Instead of merely tinkering with the tax code to encourage green technology expansion – a signature of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should prioritize less technical, “green economic populist” initiatives such as no-cost transit and the build-out of decarbonized public housing.

“These kinds of programs do have decarbonization benefits, but they’re highly important for starting to establish a mass base [who have] trust in public institutions and trust in the government,” Batul Hassan, labor director at the left-leaning thinktank Climate and Community Institute, remarked at a panel.

Mamdani, the left-wing who secured a remarkable win in the New York City mayoral primary this summer, embodies this kind of platform, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, progressives gathered for a celebration at the legendary Sounds of Brazil music venue to celebrate the candidate’s success.

“It has long been recognized that if we’re going to create a mass movement, people need to see the connection between the transition to renewable energy and paying less money,” New York City comptroller Brad Lander said in an interview at the party, speaking over the thrum of Charli xcx.

Messaging is critical, but merely speaking about affordability is insufficient, Alexa Avilés, a New York City council member and democratic socialist, told the Guardian at the Mamdani event. Trump, for instance, has failed to deliver on his promise of reducing bills as giving massive benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also culpable of prioritizing their business backers’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people talk about everyday folks, but then they create policies that are designed for the rich. We’ve been dealing with that disappointment for a long time,” she said. “We need to concentrate on truly bringing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely prioritize people over profit, people respond to that. People can tell who is sincere.”

Further Reading:

• US energy department tightens rules on workers’ use of environmental emergency language
• Trump administration allocating $625m to revive dying coal industry
• Los Angeles vowed to host the Olympics without breaking the bank and environment. Is it possible?