Restore Green Powerful Again: Can Appeals to the Pocketbook Make Climate Policy an Election-Winner?
During stuffy UN press conferences, in swanky auditoriums and at crowded progressive celebrations, one word was on everyone’s lips at this year’s Climate Week NYC: affordability.
The American energy chief, Chris Wright, said that during President Trump the United States is “returning to practical energy policies that focus on affordability”. The former energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said Democrats must focus on renewable power’s capacity to reduce power bills to secure elections. And supporters of the almost certainly future New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, trumpeted their initiatives to connect green policies with efforts to cut city residents’ rent and ensure transit affordable.
The effort to tie everyday cost issues to global warming is longstanding. The idea was a central part of the progressive climate plan, a forward-thinking 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 flagship 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 ways to safeguard everyday citizens’ finances.
Key Updates
- Uncovered: Europe losing 600 football pitches of wildlife and crop land a day
- UK hydraulic fracturing prohibition to be brought forward as Labour responds to Reform promise
- Israel’s environmental destruction in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here
In Focus
Annually, Climate Week in New York City brings together government officials, corporate actors, scholars and activists 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 campaign cast a significant shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials aimed to peg its rule-cutting agenda as a win to reduce Americans’ bills, with Trump calling 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 worked to expose those claims as false while persuading Americans to support 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 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, said she anticipated as climate slips down the list of political concerns 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 crucial.”
Those significantly Granholm’s progressive side also advocated a focus on affordability in the climate fight. But many called for more far-reaching solutions that deliver more immediate benefits. Instead of merely adjusting with the tax code to incentivize green technology expansion – a hallmark of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less wonky, “green economic populist” initiatives such as fare-free transit and the build-out of low-carbon public housing.
“These kinds of programs do have decarbonization benefits, but they’re highly important for starting to build up a mass base [who have] trust in public institutions and confidence in the government,” Batul Hassan, labor director at the left-leaning thinktank Climate and Community Institute, remarked at a panel.
Mamdani, the socialist who secured a stunning win in the New York City mayoral primary this summer, embodies this kind of agenda, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, activists assembled for a dance party at the renowned Sounds of Brazil music venue to celebrate the candidate’s success.
“It has long been recognized 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, speaking over the beat of Charli xcx.
Communication is critical, but merely speaking about affordability is not enough, Alexa Avilés, a New York City council member and progressive, told the Guardian at the Mamdani event. Trump, for instance, has not delivered to deliver on his promise of lowering bills while handing huge benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also guilty of favoring their business backers’ interests, Avilés said.
“Some people speak about working-class folks, but then they make policies that are designed for the rich. We’ve been dealing with that frustration for a long time,” she said. “We need to concentrate on truly 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.”
Further Reading:
- US energy department tightens rules on workers’ use of environmental emergency language
- Trump administration spending $625m to resurrect declining coal industry
- Los Angeles pledged to host the Olympics without straining the bank and environment. Can it?
