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During stuffy United Nations media briefings, in luxurious halls and at sticky progressive dance parties, one term was on all lips at this year’s New York Climate Week: affordability.

The American energy chief, Chris Wright, stated that during President Trump the United States is “reverting to commonsense energy policies that concentrate 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 almost certainly future New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, trumpeted their efforts to link green policies with efforts to cut city residents’ rent and ensure transit affordable.

The effort to link everyday cost issues to global warming is not new. 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 picked up the framing in the White House, naming 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 plans as ways to protect ordinary people’s finances.

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Spotlight

Annually, Climate Week in New York City unites public leaders, business representatives, experts and campaigners for a wide range of environment-centered events, timed to coincide with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s environment-deregulating campaign cast a massive shadow over the event. In speeches through the week, White House officials sought to peg its rule-cutting agenda as a win to reduce Americans’ bills, with Trump labeling green energy a “fraud” and Wright saying: “The more people have gotten into supposed climate action, the more expensive their energy has become.”

Climate advocates attempted to reveal those statements as inaccurate 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California, unveiled a plan to accelerate new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year.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 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 must-have, and right now they’re in the critical mode,” she told reporters during avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is crucial.”

Those well to Granholm’s progressive side also advocated 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 incentivize green technology buildout – a signature of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less technical, “green economic populist” campaigns 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 establish a broad support [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 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, progressives assembled for a celebration at the legendary Sounds of Brazil music venue to honor 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 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.

Messaging is important, 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 not delivered to fulfill on his promise of reducing bills while giving massive benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also culpable of prioritizing their corporate donors’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people speak about everyday folks, but then they make 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 bringing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely center people over profit, people react to that. People can tell who is sincere.”

Further Reading:

• US energy department tightens rules on workers’ use of climate crisis language
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• Los Angeles vowed to host the Olympics without breaking the bank and environment. Is it possible?