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Climate Was Missing From New York’s Progressive Wave

The city’s primary winners campaigned on affordability, yet climate change, a major driver of rising costs and inequality, was conspicuously absent from the conversation.

Progressive New York primary winner Darializa Avila Chevalier did not include climate action on her list of priorities.

On June 23, a slate of progressive candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept New York’s primaries, ousting incumbents and promising to grow the Squad in Congress. The sweep resounded across subway lines and entire states: The country is buzzing, and the establishment is on notice—democratic socialism is no longer the favorite dog whistle of centrist Dems.

But curiously absent from campaigns driven by the aching need for a more affordable New York and nation was a focus on the single greatest affordability crisis and threat tohuman rights: the climate crisis. Israel-Palestine, ICE, and housing all headlined, yet in a city with a rich history of massive climatemobilizations, climate action and environmental justice were sidelined. Even when candidates had robust climate platforms, climate change didn’t generally feature prominently in candidate forums, rallies, or media coverage.

Recognizing these candidates’ priorities as a real-time response to deep-seated voter frustration, the exclusion of climate from the agenda only years after it played a vital role for Democrats in the 2020 presidential election begs the question: Is climate change no longer a hot topic?

According to a just-released analysis by Inside Climate News, Democrats are indeed withdrawing from tackling the climate crisis. Democratic Members of Congress “have embraced [a] message of ‘climate hushing,’ with mentions of climate change plummeting since 2025.”

The irony is that the impacts of climate change are increasing everywhere. Only two days after the primaries, an event focused on extreme heat was canceled in London amid scorching temperatures that have put Europe under a “red alert” and led to drownings in France as people try to cool down.

Addressing climate change not only complements but is critical to solving the problems progressive candidates most often focus on: inequality and injustice in our housing, food, immigration, and........

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