Make Green Powerful Once More: Can Arguments to the Pocketbook Make Environmental Policy an Election-Winner?

At stuffy United Nations press conferences, in luxurious auditoriums and at crowded socialist celebrations, one term was on all minds at this year’s Climate Week NYC: affordability.

The American energy chief, Chris Wright, stated that under President Trump the United States is “returning to practical energy policies that focus on affordability”. The previous energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said Democrats must center on renewable power’s capacity to shrink power bills to secure elections. And supporters of the almost certainly soon-to-be New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, trumpeted their efforts to connect green policies with actions to lower city residents’ rent and ensure transit affordable.

The attempt to link everyday 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 picked up the framing in the White House, naming his signature green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.

Now, as utility bills rise around the country, Americans on all sides of the ideological divide are presenting their energy and climate proposals as methods to protect everyday citizens’ pocketbooks.

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Spotlight

Annually, Climate Week in New York City unites public leaders, business representatives, scholars and campaigners for a vast array of environment-centered events, scheduled to coincide with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s anti-environmental campaign threw a significant shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials sought to peg its rule-cutting agenda as a victory to lower Americans’ bills, with Trump labeling green energy a “fraud” and Wright declaring: “The more people have gotten into supposed climate action, the more expensive their energy has become.”

Climate advocates attempted to expose those statements as inaccurate while persuading Americans on board with green policies on the grounds that they can lower costs. For instance, two Democratic representatives, from Illinois and California, unveiled a proposal to accelerate new power-line construction and reinstate green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year. Its title: the Cheap Energy Act.

It’s a strategy that Jennifer Granholm, who served as US energy secretary under Biden, said she expected as climate slips 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 critical mode,” she told reporters over avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is key.”

Those significantly Granholm’s left also advocated a emphasis on affordability in the climate fight. But many called for more ambitious solutions that deliver more immediate benefits. Instead of merely adjusting with the tax code to encourage green technology buildout – a signature of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less technical, “green economic populist” initiatives such as fare-free transit and the build-out of low-carbon public housing.

“These kinds of programs do have emissions-reduction benefits, but they’re extremely important for starting to establish a broad support [who have] faith in public institutions and confidence in the government,” Batul Hassan, labor director at the progressive thinktank Climate and Community Institute, said at a panel.

Mamdani, the left-wing who achieved a stunning win in the New York City mayoral primary this summer, represents this kind of agenda, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, activists gathered for a celebration at the legendary Sounds of Brazil music venue to honor the candidate’s success.

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

Communication is important, 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 not delivered to fulfill on his promise of lowering bills as handing huge benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also culpable of prioritizing their corporate donors’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people speak about working-class folks, but then they make policies that are designed for the rich. We’ve been living with that frustration for a long time,” she said. “We need to focus on actually bringing relief to people. And we see that when we really prioritize people over profit, people react to that. People can discern who is for real.”

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