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At formal United Nations media briefings, in luxurious halls and at crowded socialist dance parties, one term was on all minds at this year’s New York Climate Week: affordability.

The American energy chief, Chris Wright, stated that under President Trump the United States is “reverting to practical energy policies that focus on affordability”. The former energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, emphasized Democrats must center on renewable power’s capacity to shrink power bills to win elections. And advocates of the likely soon-to-be New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, promoted their efforts to connect green policies with efforts to cut city residents’ rent and make transit cost-effective.

The attempt to link daily cost issues to climate change is longstanding. The idea was a central part of the progressive climate plan, a progressive policy platform championed by youth-led climate group the Sunrise Movement and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018. Joe Biden adopted the framing in the White House, naming his signature green carbon-cutting policy the Inflation Reduction Act, from 2022.

Now, as utility bills rise around the country, Americans on all sides of the ideological divide are framing their energy and climate plans as methods to protect ordinary people’s finances.

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In Focus

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

This year, the Trump administration’s anti-environmental blitz cast a significant shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials aimed to peg its deregulatory 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 worked to reveal those statements as inaccurate while getting Americans on board 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California, unveiled a proposal to speed new power-line construction and reinstate green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year. Its title: 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 public priorities 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 secondary [concern], not a must-have, 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 called for more far-reaching solutions that deliver more immediate benefits. Instead of merely tinkering with the tax code to incentivize green technology expansion – a signature of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less technical, “green economic populist” initiatives such as fare-free transit and the build-out of decarbonized public housing.

“These kinds of programs do have decarbonization 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 left-leaning thinktank Climate and Community Institute, said at a panel.

Mamdani, the left-wing who achieved 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 gathered for a celebration at the legendary Sounds of Brazil music venue to celebrate the candidate’s success.

“It has long been recognized that if we’re going to build a mass movement, people need to see the link between the shift to renewable energy and paying less money,” New York City comptroller Brad Lander said in an interview at the party, shouting 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 lowering bills as giving huge 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 create policies that are designed for the rich. We’ve been living with that frustration for a long time,” she said. “We need to concentrate on actually providing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely center people over profit, people react to that. People can discern who is for real.”

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