The political landscape is shifting, with a new wave of progressive politicians and advocates pushing for climate policy to be integrated into the affordability agenda. As the Trump administration derides climate policy as a 'scam' and fails to address rising energy costs and inflation, a group of forward-thinking leaders are reframing emissions-cutting measures as a form of economic populism.
Stevie O'Hanlon, co-founder of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, argues that climate politics should no longer be seen as a moral test, where Americans are asked to accept higher costs to prevent environmental catastrophe. Instead, O'Hanlon emphasizes the direct impact of rising temperatures on the financial burden of working people. Utility bills and healthcare costs are soaring as extreme weather intensifies, and public transit systems, vital for climate goals, are suffering from federal funding cuts. Landlords are passing on the costs of inefficient buildings, higher insurance, and disaster repairs to tenants, turning climate risk into a monthly surcharge. Meanwhile, wealth inequality is on the rise under an administration that has accepted record donations from the oil and gas industry.
Progressive politicians are embracing this economic reality. Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist mayor-elect of New York City, has proposed affordability-first climate policies, such as free buses to reduce car usage and plans to make schools more climate-resilient. Katie Wilson, the socialist mayor-elect of Seattle, aims to boost social housing and pursue green retrofits. Graham Platner, a US Senate hopeful in Maine, combines calls to rein in polluters and protect waterways with a critique of oligarchic politics.
In Nebraska, independent US Senate candidate Dan Osborn supports right-to-repair laws, which could reduce emissions from manufacturing, although he doesn't frame it as climate policy. In New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats who are not radical leftists have successfully focused on lowering utility costs. Across the country, movements are working to cut emissions while building economic power.
In Chicago, the teachers' union secured a contract requiring solar panels on schools and creating clean-energy career pathways for students. Educators' unions in Los Angeles and Minneapolis are also seeking to improve conditions for staff and students while decarbonizing. Rithika Ramamurthy, communications director at the Climate and Community Institute, views these educators as protagonists in the fight for 'green economic populism'.
Organized labor is pushing for a unionized workforce to decarbonize energy and buildings from Maine to Texas. Tenants' unions are working to green their residences while protecting renters from climate disasters and rising bills, fighting for eviction protections to prevent post-disaster displacement and empower tenants to demand green upgrades. Some are also advocating for climate-friendly retrofits.
Public ownership of energy is being expanded, with proponents arguing that it can strengthen democratic control and lower rates by eliminating shareholder profits. In New York, a coalition won a policy directing the state-owned utility to build renewable energy with a unionized workforce, and advocates are pursuing a consumer-owned utility in Maine and a public takeover of the local utility in Baltimore.
To hold polluters accountable, activists and lawmakers are championing policies that force them to help pay for emissions reduction and resilience. Vermont and New York have passed 'climate superfund' laws, while New York and Maine are expected to vote on similar measures soon. Legislators in other states are looking to introduce or reintroduce bills in 2026, despite the Trump administration's attempts to kill these laws.
Cassidy DiPaola, spokesperson for the Make Polluters Pay campaign, highlights the importance of linking climate policy with financial concerns. Polls show that voters support accountability measures against polluters and believe the climate crisis is driving up living costs. DiPaola argues that talking about who's paying and who's profiting is the fastest way to depolarize climate discussions.
Linking green initiatives with economic concerns is not new. It was central to the Green New Deal, popularized by the Sunrise Movement and politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018, which influenced Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). However, critics argue that the IRA fell short of building economic power among ordinary people, focusing on incentives for capital rather than tangible benefits for most Americans.
