During stuffy United Nations press conferences, in luxurious auditoriums and at crowded progressive dance parties, one word was on all minds at this year’s Climate Week NYC: cost-effectiveness.
The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, stated 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 focus on renewable power’s ability to reduce power bills to secure elections. And advocates of the likely future New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, promoted their initiatives to connect green policies with efforts to cut city residents’ rent and ensure transit affordable.
The effort to tie daily cost issues to global warming is longstanding. The idea was a key part of the Green New Deal, a forward-thinking policy platform popularized by young climate group the Sunrise Movement and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018. Joe Biden adopted the framing in the White House, calling his flagship green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.
Now, as energy costs soar around the country, Americans on all sides of the political spectrum are framing their energy and climate proposals as ways to safeguard ordinary people’s pocketbooks.
Key Reads
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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 vast array of environment-centered events, timed to coincide with the United Nations general assembly.
This year, the Trump administration’s environment-deregulating blitz threw a significant shadow over the event. In speeches through the week, White House officials sought to peg its deregulatory agenda as a victory to lower Americans’ bills, with Trump labeling green energy a “scam” and Wright saying: “The more people have gotten into so-called climate action, the more expensive their energy has become.”
Environmental supporters attempted to reveal those claims as false while persuading Americans to support with green policies on the basis that they can lower costs. For instance, two Democratic representatives, from Illinois and California, unveiled a proposal to speed new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year. Its name: the Cheap Energy Act.
It’s a strategy that Jennifer Granholm, who served as US energy secretary under Biden, noted she anticipated 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 must-have mode,” she told reporters over avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is crucial.”
Those significantly Granholm’s left also called for a emphasis 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 encourage green technology buildout – a hallmark of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less wonky, “green economic populist” initiatives such as no-cost transit and the build-out 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] 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 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 celebration at the legendary Sounds of Brazil music venue to celebrate the candidate’s success.
“It has long been understood that if we’re going to build a broad coalition, people need to see the connection between the shift to renewable energy and paying 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 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 failed to deliver on his promise of lowering bills as handing massive benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also culpable of prioritizing their corporate donors’ interests, Avilés said.
“Some people talk about working-class folks, but then they create policies that are designed for the rich. We’ve been living with that disappointment for a long time,” she said. “We need to concentrate on truly 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 tightens rules 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?
