The signs are everywhere: climate change is dead as a political cause. Democrats have found another focus.
Tom Steyer, a well-known climate activist, is running for Governor of California. However, he’s not running on his favorite topic: environmentalism and climate change. Instead, he’s shifted to a more pressing issue that has captured the electorate’s attention lately—affordability.
With skyrocketing costs, people are struggling to afford groceries and housing. As a result, climate change has faded into the background, and Democrats are jumping on the affordability bandwagon.
People are beginning to notice that New York isn’t underwater, the polar ice caps remain intact, and dire predictions about the world ending in ten years have not come to pass. According to Politico, Tom Steyer’s dramatic shift reflects the broader direction of the Democratic Party: moving away from climate politics and focusing on affordability.
You can gauge the party’s retreat from climate issues in one name: Tom Steyer. The billionaire environmental activist who built his political profile on climate change—even writing last year that “climate is what matters most right now, and nothing else comes close”—did not mention the issue once in the campaign launch video for California governor.
That omission was no accident.
Ironically, it’s hard to hear Steyer speak about affordability without remembering his role in policies that contributed to California’s soaring costs. Global warming ceased to be an existential crisis demanding urgent action the moment it stopped benefiting Democrats politically.
Now, Steyer is all about affordability.
Instead of focusing on climate, he has leaned heavily into economic populism—criticizing the wealthy and aiming to harness the same energy that propelled figures like Senator John Fetterman to office in Pennsylvania. This approach also aligns with other 2026 hopefuls, such as Graham Platner in Maine’s Senate race.
“Everyone knows that this race is really about affordability,” Steyer’s campaign strategist, Rebecca Katz, said in an interview. “Tom wants to get back to basics.”
This is a stark contrast to Steyer’s 2020 presidential campaign, where he proclaimed climate change as his number one priority, vowed to declare a climate emergency on day one, and pressed Joe Biden on his climate credentials.
The political landscape is shifting, but voters remain pawns in the game. The final irony: the architect of California’s climate policies—once hailed for environmental advocacy—is now campaigning on affordability above all else.
https://www.independentsentinel.com/with-climate-change-drying-up-democrats-switch-to-affordability/