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

During stuffy United Nations press conferences, in swanky halls and at crowded progressive celebrations, one word was on all lips at this year’s New York Climate Week: cost-effectiveness.

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

The attempt to tie daily cost issues to global warming is longstanding. The concept was a key part of the Green New Deal, 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 approach in the White House, calling his flagship green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.

Now, as energy costs rise around the country, Americans on every part of the ideological divide are framing their energy and climate plans as methods to protect ordinary people’s finances.

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In Focus

Every year, Climate Week in New York City brings together public leaders, business representatives, 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 campaign cast a significant shadow over the event. In speeches through the week, White House officials aimed to peg its rule-cutting agenda as a victory to reduce Americans’ bills, with Trump calling green energy a “scam” and Wright declaring: “The more people have gotten into so-called climate action, the more expensive their energy has become.”

Climate advocates worked to reveal 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 accelerate new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump canceled earlier this year. Its name: the Cheap Energy Act.

It’s a framework that Jennifer Granholm, who acted as US energy secretary under Biden, said she expected 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 must-have mode,” she told reporters during avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is key.”

Those significantly Granholm’s progressive side also advocated a focus on affordability in the climate fight. But many demanded more far-reaching solutions that provide more quick benefits. Instead of merely adjusting with the tax code to incentivize green technology buildout – a hallmark of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less technical, “green economic populist” initiatives such as fare-free 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 build up a broad support [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 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 legendary Sounds of Brazil music venue to celebrate the candidate’s success.

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

Communication is important, but merely talking about affordability is not enough, Alexa Avilés, a New York City council member and democratic socialist, told the Guardian at the Mamdani event. Trump, for instance, has failed to fulfill 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 create policies that are intended for the rich. We’ve been living with that disappointment for a long time,” she said. “We need to focus on actually providing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely center people over profit, people respond to that. People can tell who is for real.”

Further Reading:

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