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At stuffy UN press conferences, in luxurious halls and at crowded socialist dance parties, one word was on everyone’s minds at this year’s Climate Week NYC: affordability.

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said that during President Trump the United States is “returning to practical energy policies that concentrate on affordability”. The former energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, emphasized Democrats must focus on renewable power’s capacity to reduce power bills to secure elections. And supporters of the almost certainly soon-to-be New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, trumpeted their initiatives to link green policies with actions to lower city residents’ rent and ensure transit affordable.

The attempt to link everyday cost issues to global warming is longstanding. The concept was a key part of the Green New Deal, a progressive 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 framing 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 political spectrum are presenting their energy and climate plans as ways to protect everyday citizens’ pocketbooks.

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In Focus

Annually, Climate Week in New York City unites government officials, business representatives, experts and activists for a vast array of climate-focused events, scheduled to coincide with the United Nations general assembly.

This year, the Trump administration’s anti-environmental campaign cast a massive shadow over the event. In speeches 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 “scam” and Wright saying: “The more people have gotten into supposed 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 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California, unveiled a proposal to speed new power-line construction and restore green energy incentives which Trump repealed earlier this year.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, noted 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 must-have mode,” she told reporters during avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is key.”

Those well to Granholm’s progressive side also called for a focus on affordability in the climate fight. But many called for more far-reaching solutions that deliver more quick benefits. Instead of merely tinkering with the tax code to incentivize green technology buildout – a hallmark of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should focus on less technical, “green economic populist” campaigns such as no-cost transit and the development of low-carbon 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 trust in the government,” Batul Hassan, workforce lead at the progressive thinktank Climate and Community Institute, remarked at a panel.

Mamdani, the socialist who secured a stunning win in the New York City mayoral primary this summer, represents this kind of platform, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, activists assembled for a dance party 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 connection between the transition to renewable energy and paying less money,” New York City comptroller Brad Lander said in an interview at the party, shouting over the thrum of Charli xcx.

Messaging 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 reducing bills while giving huge benefits to oil giants and other corporations. And many Democrats are also guilty of prioritizing their corporate donors’ interests, Avilés said.

“Some people talk 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 actually bringing relief to people. And we see that when we really center people over profit, people react to that. People can discern who is for real.”

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