Climate justice and affordability go hand-in-hand.

If you’ve spent any time watching election interviews or news coverage, you have likely encountered this sentiment: “sure, climate matters, but affordability and the economy are more important to me and more top of mind.” 

Now, 350 Action is a climate justice organization, so it will be no surprise that we think climate change should be top of mind. We also empathize deeply with voters who are more concerned with their ability to pay their bills, and we are facing a major cost-of-living crisis. In far too many cases, families and vulnerable communities must choose between paying their home’s utility bills and putting food on the table. 

But here’s the thing: climate injustice and economic injustice are one and the same, you just wouldn’t know it from how the news covers them. 

As we continue to burn fossil fuels and wreak havoc on our climate, health, and food systems, everything gets more expensive: 

• Grocery prices go up when food becomes scarce.
• Medical bills rise as we face more health problems like extreme heat and low air quality.
• Housing prices—and insurance prices—rise as climate disasters intensify. Everyone gets more expensive: construction, relocation, weatherization, insurance.
• Even the stock market is more volatile… and the list goes on. 

These intersections are extra clear when we look at our utility bills: utility companies raise our rates for their own short-term profit, keeping us reliant on the expensive and destructive fossil fuels that are burning down our planet AND contributing to an unreliable power grid. If we can’t pay these exorbitant bills, we risk having our power shut off. Even if we can pay, we still risk losing our power—because our energy system is relying on an unreliable and unsustainable fuel source. It’s a lose-lose situation. 

So what does this all have to do with the presidential election? Who we elect as president can make a massive difference in our fight for utility justice. 

The office of the president offers a “bully pulpit”—the president helps set the tone for what issues get the spotlight. And a president who is tuned into the people’s needs can use their position to demand that greedy utility companies usher in a just transition to renewable energy and lower utility bills for working families. 

Donald Trump and the Republican Party have completely weaponized affordability language, and we must reject and counter the notion that they will do anything to make this country more livable or more affordable for working people.

Trump’s platform would exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis—likely on an exponential scale—if he were to take office. Economists say that Trump’s economic plans would worsen inflation. Trump’s plans to drastically raise tariffs also pose major risks to both the economy and to consumers, and he is spreading blatant misinformation about where that economic burden would fall. Trump has also threatened to get rid of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), when many of the IRA’s incentives work to modernize the national grid to convert it to renewable energy. Taking away the IRA would make it more difficult—and more expensive—for Americans to repower their lives with renewable energy. 

Vice President Harris, on the other hand, has a strong record on climate and a history of going after Big Oil—Harris understands who is responsible for the climate crisis and where that economic burden should fall. She rejects Trump’s tariff plan and has called out its misinformation. And she could use the influence of the presidential office to push utility companies to lower their rates and move towards renewable energy. 

VP Harris can do even more—beyond the “bully pulpit” and what she can accomplish through executive order—if Democrats win control of both the Senate and House, making it all the more important that people vote, including in down ballot races.

We’ve endorsed VP Harris because we know that with her in office, we can move her to take real strides toward utility justice. Rest assured, our fight for utility justice will continue no matter who wins this November—it just becomes significantly easier if we do everything we can to get climate champions in office at every level.