Democratic Party game out climate messaging at policy retreat

The administration has been playing up its crusade against the climate crisis to endear the president to activists who have complained about the White House’s support for some fossil fuel projects — adding to Democrats’ burdens in an election year marked by grumbling over the economy, fights over border policy and the president’s low approval ratings.

But that talking point alone isn’t going to be what drives people to the polls, said Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Democrats instead need to focus on what the climate gains in the Inflation Reduction Act would mean for people’s pocketbooks.
“It’s all about how you message it with voters. In Latino communities, if you talk about climate change, it’s kind of abstract for them,” she told POLITICO’s E&E News, echoing points she made at a press conference with Hispanic Caucus members earlier in the day.

“If you say, ‘Oh, we’re going to save billions of dollars on energy’ — when you tell somebody that, that doesn’t mean anything to them until you talk to them and how it is going to impact them,” Barragán continued. “[If you say], ‘you’re going to get a new refrigerator and save money by using less energy,’ that is sometimes how it happens.”
Ultimately, she added, “people are not feeling some of the benefits of what we’ve passed because they are not yet gone into effect.”