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At formal United Nations press conferences, in luxurious halls and at crowded progressive dance parties, one term was on all minds at this year’s Climate Week NYC: cost-effectiveness.

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 focus on renewable power’s capacity to reduce power bills to secure elections. And advocates of the likely future New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, promoted their efforts to connect green policies with efforts to cut city residents’ rent and make transit affordable.

The effort to link daily cost issues to climate change is longstanding. The idea was a central 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 adopted 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 all sides of the political spectrum are presenting their energy and climate plans as methods to safeguard ordinary people’s pocketbooks.

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In Focus

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

This year, the Trump administration’s environment-deregulating campaign cast a significant shadow over the event. In speeches through the week, White House officials sought to peg its rule-cutting agenda as a win to reduce Americans’ bills, with Trump calling green energy a “scam” and Wright declaring: “The more people have gotten into so-called climate action, the more expensive their energy has become.”

Climate advocates worked to expose those claims as inaccurate while getting 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 proposal to accelerate new power-line construction and reinstate green energy incentives which Trump canceled earlier this year. Its name: the Cheap Energy Act.

It’s a framework 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 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 must-have, and right now they’re in the must-have mode,” she told reporters over avocado toast one morning. “Affordability is key.”

Those well to Granholm’s left also advocated a emphasis on affordability in the climate fight. But many demanded more far-reaching solutions that provide more immediate benefits. Instead of merely tinkering with the tax code to incentivize green technology expansion – a hallmark of Biden’s climate efforts – politicians should prioritize less wonky, “green economic populist” initiatives 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 build up 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, said at a panel.

Mamdani, the left-wing who secured a stunning win in the New York City mayoral primary this summer, represents this kind of agenda, said Hassan. On Wednesday of Climate Week, activists gathered for a dance party 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 transition to renewable energy and spending less money,” New York City comptroller Brad Lander said in an interview at the party, speaking over the beat of Charli xcx.

Messaging is critical, but merely speaking about affordability is insufficient, Alexa Avilés, a New York City council member and democratic socialist, told the Guardian at the Mamdani event. Trump, for instance, has failed to fulfill on his promise of lowering 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 talk about everyday folks, but then they make policies that are designed for the rich. We’ve been dealing with that frustration for a long time,” she said. “We need to focus on truly bringing relief to people. And we see that when we genuinely prioritize people over profit, people respond to that. People can discern who is sincere.”

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