Josh Axelrod
11/02/2026
Climate change has all but disappeared from Democrats' campaign pitches, replaced by promises to lower electricity bills. So what would the party really do for climate policy should it win control of Congress?
President Donald Trump's administration has gutted US climate policy. Yet, even as wildfires, record heat waves and flooding hit communities across the country, Democrats are keeping quiet about global warming on the midterm campaign trail.
Instead, candidates are packaging climate policy as an affordability issue, stressing how Americans are struggling to afford gas, groceries and to insure their homes against climate-fueled weather extremes.
Take James Talarico, who represents the Democratic Party's best chance at winning a senate race in the Republican stronghold of Texas in nearly 40 years. Though he makes some mention of climate change on his campaign's "energy and environment" page, that is not his focus.
His pledges center on lowering energy costs, providing emergency relief for spiking utility bills, making data centers pay for their own grid upgrades and growing energy sector jobs.
This aligns with analysis from nonprofit news organization Inside Climate News showing that the Democrats have dramatically reduced mentions of climate change in their press releases and campaign messaging.
The Trump administration has pushed back against renewables in favor of fossil fuels, but rooftop solar is gaining popularity with US homeownersImage: Mario Tama/Getty Images
"We've entered an interesting space where climate policy doesn't need to be called climate policy to be climate policy," Max Frankel, executive director of the SEEC Institute, a nonprofit that helps guide climate policy in Congress, told DW.