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At stuffy UN press conferences, in luxurious auditoriums and at crowded socialist dance parties, one word was on all lips at this year’s Climate Week NYC: cost-effectiveness.

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, stated that during President Trump the United States is “reverting to practical energy policies that focus on affordability”. The previous energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, emphasized Democrats must focus on renewable power’s capacity 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 lower city residents’ rent and make transit cost-effective.

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 forward-thinking 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, naming his flagship green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.

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

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Spotlight

Every year, Climate Week in New York City brings together public leaders, corporate actors, experts and campaigners for a wide range of climate-focused events, scheduled to align with the United Nations general assembly.

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

Environmental supporters worked to reveal those claims as inaccurate while persuading Americans to support with green policies on the grounds that they can cut 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unveiled a proposal to accelerate new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year.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 name: the Cheap Energy Act.

It’s a framework that Jennifer Granholm, who served as US energy secretary under Biden, noted she expected as climate slips down the list of political concerns for Americans, while financial anxieties 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 over avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is crucial.”

Those well to Granholm’s progressive side 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 expansion – a signature of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should prioritize less wonky, “green economic populist” campaigns 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 establish a mass base [who have] trust in public institutions and confidence in the government,” Batul Hassan, labor director at the progressive thinktank Climate and Community Institute, remarked at a panel.

Mamdani, the left-wing who achieved a remarkable win in the New York City mayoral primary this summer, embodies this kind of platform, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, activists assembled for a celebration at the renowned 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 shift 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 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 not delivered to deliver on his promise of lowering bills while giving massive benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also guilty of prioritizing their business backers’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people talk about everyday folks, but then they make 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 truly bringing 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 environmental emergency language
• Trump administration allocating $625m to resurrect declining coal industry
• Los Angeles pledged to host the Olympics without breaking the bank and environment. Can it?