During stuffy United Nations media briefings, in swanky halls and at sticky socialist celebrations, one word was on all lips at this year’s Climate Week NYC: affordability.
The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, stated that under President Trump the United States is “returning to commonsense energy policies that focus on affordability”. The former energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said Democrats must center on renewable power’s capacity to shrink power bills to win elections. And supporters of the likely soon-to-be New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, promoted their efforts to connect green policies with efforts to cut city residents’ rent and ensure transit cost-effective.
The effort to link daily cost issues to climate change is longstanding. The concept was a key part of the Green New Deal, a forward-thinking policy platform popularized by youth-led climate group the Sunrise Movement and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018. Joe Biden adopted the framing in the White House, naming his signature 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 plans as methods to safeguard ordinary people’s pocketbooks.
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Spotlight
Every year, Climate Week in New York City unites government officials, business representatives, experts and campaigners for a vast array of climate-focused events, scheduled to coincide with the United Nations general assembly.
This year, the Trump administration’s environment-deregulating campaign threw a significant shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials sought to peg its deregulatory agenda as a win to reduce Americans’ bills, with Trump calling green energy a “scam” 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 statements as inaccurate while getting 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unveiled a proposal to accelerate new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year. Its title: the Cheap Energy Act.
It’s a framework that Jennifer Granholm, who served as US energy secretary under Biden, said she anticipated as climate falls 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 during avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is key.”
Those well to Granholm’s progressive side also called for a emphasis on affordability in the climate fight. But many called for more far-reaching solutions that deliver more immediate benefits. Instead of merely tinkering with the tax code to encourage green technology buildout – 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 low-carbon public housing.
“These kinds of programs do have emissions-reduction benefits, but they’re highly important for starting to build up a mass base [who have] faith in public institutions and trust in the government,” Batul Hassan, workforce lead 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 agenda, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, progressives assembled 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 broad coalition, people need to see the link between the shift to renewable energy and spending 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 insufficient, Alexa Avilés, a New York City council member and progressive, told the Guardian at the Mamdani event. Trump, for instance, has failed to fulfill on his promise of lowering bills while handing massive benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also guilty of favoring their corporate donors’ 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 frustration for a long time,” she said. “We need to concentrate on actually bringing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely center people over profit, people respond to that. People can discern who is sincere.”
Further Reading:
- US energy department tightens rules on workers’ use of environmental emergency language
- Trump administration spending $625m to revive dying coal industry
- Los Angeles pledged to host the Olympics without breaking the bank and environment. Can it?
