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At formal United Nations press conferences, in luxurious auditoriums and at crowded socialist dance parties, one term was on all lips at this year’s Climate Week NYC: affordability.

The American energy chief, Chris Wright, said that during President Trump the United States is “reverting to practical energy policies that concentrate on affordability”. The former energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said Democrats must center on renewable power’s ability to reduce power bills to win elections. And advocates of the almost certainly soon-to-be New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, promoted 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 climate change is longstanding. The concept was a key part of the Green New Deal, a progressive 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, calling his flagship green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.

Now, as energy costs rise around the country, Americans on every part of the ideological divide are framing their energy and climate plans as ways to protect ordinary people’s finances.

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In Focus

Every year, Climate Week in New York City unites government officials, business representatives, experts and campaigners for a vast array of environment-centered events, scheduled to align with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s anti-environmental campaign cast a massive shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials aimed to peg its rule-cutting agenda as a victory to lower Americans’ bills, with Trump labeling green energy a “fraud” 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 getting 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 speed new power-line construction and reinstate green energy incentives which Trump canceled earlier this year. Its name: the Cheap Energy Act.

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

Those significantly Granholm’s progressive side also called for a focus on affordability in the climate fight. But many called for more ambitious solutions that provide more quick benefits. Instead of merely adjusting with the tax code to encourage green technology expansion – a hallmark of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less wonky, “green economic populist” initiatives such as fare-free transit and the build-out of decarbonized public housing.

“These kinds of programs do have emissions-reduction benefits, but they’re extremely important for starting to establish a broad support [who have] trust in public institutions and confidence in the government,” Batul Hassan, labor director at the left-leaning thinktank Climate and Community Institute, remarked at a panel.

Mamdani, the socialist who achieved 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 assembled for a celebration at the renowned 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 connection between the transition to renewable energy and spending less money,” New York City comptroller Brad Lander said in an interview at the party, shouting over the thrum of Charli xcx.

Messaging is important, but merely talking about affordability is not enough, 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 reducing bills while handing massive benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also guilty of favoring their business backers’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people speak about working-class 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 providing relief to people. And we see that when we really center people over profit, people respond to that. People can discern who is for real.”

Further Reading:

• US energy department tightens rules on workers’ use of climate crisis language
• Trump administration allocating $625m to resurrect declining coal industry
• Los Angeles pledged to host the Olympics without breaking the bank and environment. Is it possible?