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During stuffy UN media briefings, in luxurious auditoriums and at sticky progressive celebrations, one word was on everyone’s minds at this year’s Climate Week NYC: cost-effectiveness.

The US energy secretary, 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, said Democrats must center on renewable power’s ability to reduce power bills to secure elections. And advocates of the almost certainly future New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, trumpeted their initiatives to connect green policies with actions to cut city residents’ rent and ensure transit cost-effective.

The attempt to link everyday cost issues to climate change is longstanding. The concept was a key part of the Green New Deal, a progressive policy platform championed by young 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 signature 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 framing their energy and climate proposals as methods to safeguard ordinary people’s finances.

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Spotlight

Annually, Climate Week in New York City unites public leaders, corporate actors, scholars and campaigners for a vast array of environment-centered events, timed to align with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s anti-environmental blitz threw a significant shadow over the event. In appearances through the week, White House officials sought to peg its rule-cutting agenda as a win 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.”

Climate advocates attempted to expose those claims as inaccurate 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, introduced a plan to speed new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump canceled earlier this year. Its name: the Cheap Energy Act.

It’s a strategy that Jennifer Granholm, who acted 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 secondary [concern], not a essential, and right now they’re in the must-have mode,” she told reporters during avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is crucial.”

Those well to Granholm’s left 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 incentivize 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 build-out of low-carbon public housing.

“These kinds of programs do have decarbonization benefits, but they’re extremely important for starting to build up a broad support [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 agenda, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, activists assembled for a dance party at the renowned Sounds of Brazil music venue to celebrate the candidate’s success.

“It has long been recognized that if we’re going to create a mass movement, people need to see the connection between the shift to renewable energy and paying less money,” New York City comptroller Brad Lander said in an interview at the party, speaking over the thrum of Charli xcx.

Messaging is critical, but merely speaking 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 not delivered to fulfill on his promise of reducing bills while handing huge 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 create 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 actually providing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely prioritize people over profit, people react to that. People can tell who is for real.”

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