Across the Northeast, Democratic governors have started to consider gas pipeline expansions, once unthinkable in the most climate-conscious states in the country. Even climate hawks in Congress have shifted their tactics, lawmakers said in recent interviews. And though the co-sponsors of the Green New Deal in 2019, Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, still rail against the fossil fuel industry, they rarely emphasize their once-influential plan to mobilize the U.S. economy to fight climate change.

The result could be a less ambitious climate agenda if the party returns to power in Washington.

During the 2024 election, Republicans accused Democrats of wanting to ban gasoline-powered cars and gas stoves and cast themselves as the party of lower prices and consumer choice. Pledging to “drill, baby, drill,” President Trump derided climate change as a hoax, promised to cut Americans’ energy bills and claimed that renewable energy would drive up costs.

Now many Democrats argue that the path back to power means abandoning some of their most aggressive stances on climate change. When they do promote renewable energy, they frame it as a way to lower electric bills and avoid the gas pump, not because of the effects on the planet.

Some environmental activists are muting their demands to keep fossil fuels “in the ground,” a rallying cry that had defined the climate movement for more than a decade.

more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/climate/democrats-climate-change-oil-gas.html