From rent to utility bills: the politicians and advocates making climate policy part of the affordability agenda | Climate crisis

A A group of progressive politicians and advocates are portraying emissions reduction measures as a form of economic populism, as the Trump administration derides climate policy as a “scam” and fails to deliver on promises to control energy costs and inflation.

Climate policy was once presented as a test of moral resolve, calling on Americans to accept higher costs to avoid environmental catastrophe, but that ignores the extent to which rising temperatures themselves drive up costs for workers, said Stevie O’Hanlon, co-founder of the youth-led Sunrise Movement.

“People are increasingly understanding how climate and the cost of living are linked,” she said.

Utility bills and health care costs rise as extreme weather conditions intensify. Public transportation systems critical to climate goals are being undermined by cuts in federal funding. Rents are rising as landlords pass on the costs of inefficient buildings, higher insurance and disaster repairs, turning climate risk into a monthly surcharge. Meanwhile, wealth inequality is widening under an administration that has received record donations from big oil companies.

“We need to connect climate change to the daily economic reality that we all face in this country,” O’Hanlon said.

Progressive politicians have embraced this notion. Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist mayor-elect of New York City, has pushed climate policies focused on affordability, such as free buses to reduce car use and a plan to make schools more climate resilient. Socialist Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson said she would boost public housing while continuing green renovations.

Graham Platner, a U.S. Senate candidate from Maine, combines calls to rein in polluters and protect waterways with a critique of oligarchic politics. In Nebraska, independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn supports right-to-repair laws that allow farmers and consumers to repair their equipment — an approach he doesn’t consider climate policy, but one that climate advocates say could reduce manufacturing emissions. And in New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats “who are by no means radical leftists” ran successful campaigns focused on lowering utility costs, O’Hanlon said.

Nationwide movements are also working to reduce emissions while building economic power. Chicago’s teachers union won a contract requiring adding solar panels to schools and creating clean energy career paths for students. Educators unions in Los Angeles and Minneapolis are also seeking to improve conditions for staff and students while decarbonizing.

“We consider them to be real protagonists in the fight for what we [at the Climate and Community Institute] “We call it ‘green economic populism,’” said Rithika Ramamurthy, communications director at the left-leaning climate think tank the Climate and Community Institute.

From Maine to Texas, unions are also pushing for a unionized workforce to decarbonize energy and buildings. And tenant unions are working to make their residences greener while protecting tenants from climate disasters and rising bills, Ramamurthy said. From Connecticut to California, they are fighting for eviction protections that can prevent post-disaster displacement and allow tenants to demand green improvements. Some also directly advocate for climate-friendly renovations.

The movements also strive to increase the energy of public ownership, which their supporters say could strengthen democratic control and lower rates by eliminating shareholder profits. In New York, a coalition won a 2023 policy directing the state-owned utility to build renewable energy with a unionized workforce, and advocates are considering a consumer-owned utility in Maine and a public takeover of the local utility in Baltimore.

To hold polluters accountable for their climate contributions, activists and lawmakers across the country are championing policies that would require them to help reduce emissions and build resilience. Vermont and New York passed such “climate superfund” laws this year, while New York and Maine are expected to vote on such measures soon. And lawmakers in other states are considering introducing or reintroducing bills in 2026, even as the Trump administration tries to roll back the laws.

“When insurance becomes unaffordable and states are constantly rebuilding after disasters, people don’t need technical explanations to know something is seriously wrong,” said Cassidy DiPaola, a spokeswoman for the Make Polluters Pay campaign. “Climate superfunds link these costs to liability by arguing that the companies that caused the damage should not be protected from paying. » Polls show these bills appear popular, she said.

Talking about people’s financial concerns can help build support for climate policy, DiPaola said. Polls show that voters support accountability measures against polluters and that most believe the climate crisis is driving up the cost of living.

“The quickest way to depolarize the climate is simply to talk about who pays and who benefits,” she said. “People don’t agree on a lot of things, but they understand that we’re being ripped off. »

Linking green initiatives to economic concerns is not new. It was a central part of the Green New Deal, popularized by the Sunrise movement and politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018. The initiative inspired Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which included the largest climate investments in U.S. history. But critics say the IRA failed to strengthen the economic power of ordinary people.

Although it boosted green industry and created some 400,000 new jobs, those benefits aren’t tangible for most Americans, Ramamurthy said. Proposed investments in housing and public transport – which could have been more visible – were reduced in the final package. Its incentives also largely benefited private companies and wealthier households. A 2024 poll found that only 24% of registered voters believed the IRA had helped them.

“The IRA focused on creating incentives for capital, relying almost entirely on carrots with very few sticks,” Ramamurthy said.

While advancing renewable energy, the IRA also contained giveaways to polluters, O’Hanlon said. And Biden did not pair its passage with messages acknowledging economic hardship, she said.

“The administration has succeeded in connecting jobs and green energy,” she said. “But they said the economy was doing well, which seemed out of touch with reality.”

Trump capitalized on Americans’ economic concerns, O’Hanlon said, but did not offer them relief.

“We need a vision that can actually combat the narrative that Trump is presenting,” she said. “We need a vision to tackle the climate crisis while improving the lives of workers. »