Democrats retreat on the Green New Deal
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
President Trump's first term provoked the movement for a Green New Deal. His second term may have killed it.
Why it matters: Democrats aren't explicitly disavowing the Green New Deal, but they've abruptly stopped talking about it as they scramble to find new ways to talk about climate change.
- Over the past three months, Democrats in Congress collectively said "Green New Deal" only six times across social media and on the floor.
- That's the fewest mentions since the proposal rose to prominence in the fall of 2018, according to data from the legislative tracking service Quorum.
Over the same 3-month period, Republicans mentioned "Green New Deal" 337 times as they continue to believe that what President Trump calls the "Green New Scam" is a losing issue for Democrats.
Zoom in: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts have not reintroduced their Green New Deal resolution that had become one of their signature initiatives (they introduced it in April 2023 of the last Congress).
- Spokespeople for Markey and Ocasio-Cortez did not respond for comment.
- In attacking the GOP's "one big, beautiful bill," Democrats and many groups have focused on claims it will drive up energy costs and cost jobs from scuttled projects rather than focus on it exacerbating climate change.
Other Democrats eyeing presidential runs have signaled they aren't purists on climate change in the way some Democrats did during Trump's first term.
- Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona told The New York Times earlier this year: "Every Latino man wants a big-ass truck, which, nothing wrong with that."
- After Elon Musk called Sen. Mark Kelly a "traitor," the Arizona senator traded in his Tesla for a Chevy Tahoe SUV (he noted he had two of them: one in D.C. and another in Arizona).
- Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has continued to be supportive of natural gas projects in his state.
Flashback: Many 2020 Democratic presidential candidates embraced the "Green New Deal" and put forward multitrillion-dollar proposals.
- When then-Sen. Kamala Harris ran for president in 2020, her Green New Deal agenda called for mandating automakers to only make electric or hydrogen cars by 2035.
Between the lines: The tide against far-reaching Green New Deal-esque proposals began before Trump won in 2024.
- Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dismissed it in 2019 as the "green dream, or whatever they call it."
- When Vice President Harris was running for president last fall, her campaign equivocated and dodged on the issue.
- In October, Harris said in Michigan: "Let us be clear, contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive."
The intrigue: Some Democratic leaders are increasingly skeptical that liberal climate advocacy groups can deliver the voters they claim to represent.
- Former President Biden passed one of the most ambitious and expensive climate-focused bills in history, and voters did not appear to reward him.
- Josh Freed, who leads the Climate and Energy Program at the moderate think tank Third Way, said: "The groups wouldn't or couldn't sell the IRA, and promised they'd deliver young voters on climate. They didn't deliver on selling the IRA, and Democrats did worse with young voters. A lot of elected officials' faith and trust in that apparatus has been shaken."
- Some of those groups are having trouble raising money in the Trump era. The Sunrise Movement, which has been one of the most aggressive advocates for a Green New Deal, raised less than $30,000 over the first six months of 2025.
By the numbers: Wind and solar remain the most popular forms of energy, but popular support has declined significantly over the past decade, especially among Republicans, according to a Pew Research poll published in June.
- "Republicans' views on the nation's energy priorities are now the reverse of what they were in 2020," Pew wrote.
- "Today, 67% of Republicans and Republican leaners say the country should give priority to developing fossil fuel sources like oil, coal and natural gas."
The bottom line: Some Democrats think that the party is overreacting to Trump's victory in what was ultimately a close presidential race after the party swapped out Joe Biden last summer.
- "Some Democrats are so stuck in the fetal position post-2024 that they might miss an opportunity to go on offense in 2025 on clean energy cost savings and job creation," said Jared Leopold, a strategist and co-founder of Evergreen Action.
- Stevie O'Hanlon, the political director of Sunrise, told Axios: "We're seeing a level of enthusiasm among young people that we haven't since before 2018… The climate crisis is one of Donald Trump's biggest political vulnerabilities."
