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During stuffy United Nations press conferences, in luxurious auditoriums and at crowded socialist dance parties, one word was on everyone’s lips at this year’s New York Climate Week: affordability.

The American energy chief, Chris Wright, stated that under President Trump the United States is “returning to practical energy policies that focus on affordability”. The previous energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said Democrats must center on renewable power’s ability to shrink power bills to secure elections. And advocates 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 make transit affordable.

The attempt to tie daily cost issues to global warming is not new. The concept was a key part of the Green New Deal, a progressive policy platform popularized 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 rise around the country, Americans on every part of the political spectrum are presenting their energy and climate plans as ways to safeguard ordinary people’s pocketbooks.

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Spotlight

Every year, Climate Week in New York City brings together public leaders, corporate actors, scholars and activists for a vast array of environment-centered events, timed to coincide with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s anti-environmental campaign threw a massive shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials aimed to peg its deregulatory agenda as a victory to lower Americans’ bills, with Trump labeling green energy a “fraud” and Wright declaring: “The more people have gotten into supposed climate action, the more expensive their energy has become.”

Environmental supporters worked to reveal those statements as false while persuading Americans to support with green policies on the basis that they can cut 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California, unveiled a plan to accelerate new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year.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 title: the Cheap Energy Act.

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

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 provide more immediate benefits. Instead of merely tinkering with the tax code to encourage green technology expansion – a signature of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should prioritize 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 emissions-reduction benefits, but they’re extremely important for starting to build up 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 socialist 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, activists gathered 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 create 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 beat 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 deliver on his promise of lowering bills as giving massive benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also culpable of favoring their corporate donors’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people speak about working-class 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 truly providing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely center people over profit, people react to that. People can tell who is sincere.”

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