🔗 Share this article

At formal United Nations press conferences, in swanky halls and at crowded socialist celebrations, one word was on all 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 commonsense energy policies that concentrate on affordability”. The former energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said Democrats must center on renewable power’s capacity to reduce power bills to secure elections. And advocates of the almost certainly future New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, trumpeted their initiatives to link green policies with efforts to lower city residents’ rent and make transit cost-effective.

The effort to tie daily cost issues to global warming is not new. The idea was a key part of the Green New Deal, a forward-thinking policy platform championed by young climate group the Sunrise Movement and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018. Joe Biden adopted the approach in the White House, calling his flagship green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.

Now, as utility bills soar around the country, Americans on every part of the ideological divide are presenting their energy and climate proposals as ways to safeguard everyday citizens’ pocketbooks.

Essential Reads

• Revealed: The EU 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 signal: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here

In Focus

Annually, Climate Week in New York City unites government officials, corporate actors, experts and campaigners for a wide range of climate-focused events, timed to align with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s anti-environmental campaign cast a massive shadow over the event. In speeches through the week, White House officials sought to frame its deregulatory agenda as a victory to reduce Americans’ bills, with Trump labeling green energy a “fraud” and Wright saying: “The more people have gotten into so-called 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 basis that they can cut costs. For instance, two Democratic representatives, from Illinois and California, introduced a plan to speed new power-line construction and reinstate green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year. Its name: the Cheap Energy Act.

It’s a strategy that Jennifer Granholm, who acted as US energy secretary under Biden, said she expected as climate falls down the list of political concerns for Americans, while financial anxieties rise. “My guess is you’re not going to see a lot of politicians using the word ‘climate’, because people see that as a secondary [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 progressive side also called for a focus on affordability in the climate fight. But many called for more ambitious solutions that deliver more quick benefits. Instead of merely tinkering with the tax code to encourage green technology expansion – a hallmark of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less technical, “green economic populist” campaigns such as no-cost transit and the development of low-carbon public housing.

“These kinds of programs do have decarbonization benefits, but they’re extremely 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 progressive 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, represents 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 create a mass movement, people need to see the link between the shift 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.

Messaging is important, 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 failed to deliver on his promise of reducing bills while handing huge benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also guilty of prioritizing their corporate donors’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people speak about everyday folks, but then they create policies that are designed for the rich. We’ve been living with that frustration for a long time,” she said. “We need to concentrate on truly providing 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.”

Read More:

• US energy department cracks down on workers’ use of climate crisis language
• Trump administration allocating $625m to resurrect dying coal industry
• Los Angeles pledged to host the Olympics without straining the bank and environment. Is it possible?