The public expresses deep frustration and skepticism about Congress's climate policy efforts, particularly targeting the Democratic Party for inadequate action. There is a strong sense of urgency and demand for meaningful steps to combat climate change, mixed with despair over perceived political inaction and retreat over the years.

Democratic Party

Republican Party

Congress

Remember Dems. When all the boomers die, you are gunna be trapped alone with all the millennials and zoomers you sold out.

ShredGuru

It's going to take two things to change this:

* Communication to make sure that elected officials hear from us.  That means calling, writing, turning up in person, trying to have private conversations with staff, etc.
* Active intervention in primaries, so that it's much harder to get elected if you don't support decarbonization

silence7

Im not surprised. As important as climate action is for the planet, it’s a losing issue politically in America. I think enough people care, but not enough people vote about it.

SCUMDOG_MILLIONAIRE

Are they retreating?  Because Democrats have been **failing** to **achieve** much of anything for decades; and by achieve I mean in the actual numbers we see for emissions, etc...

Perhaps a different approach can produce better results?  Not being in the way for the densification of urban areas is just about the most effective environmental policy possible; the greenness of urban living is just something environmentalist types have never wanted to talk about.  Lowering VMT is pretty straight forward, and a win all around.  That existing "environmental" legislation has inhibited lowering VMT has been a great tragedy.

whitemice

The only thing that is giving me hope is the action of other countries. I’ll always try here in the US and on a local level but any major moves being made are not in this country

hi_cholesterol24

We need to understand that America doesn’t have a left wing party. Democrats are the center-right with some left wing social policies.

No_Talk_4836

Because of course they did. The people running the Democratic Party are tepid centrists who would rather reach bipartisan consensus than stand for something. It is better to stand for principles and lose the fight than to give up the fight before it begins to try and appease the other side.

snafoomoose

“Retreating” they say. More like selling out the rest of us. New boss same as the old boss

ESB1812

Politico is a left-leaning culture war stirrer, not expert at anything.

The very first example in their article of “turnaround” is actually a **pro-environment** policy. Reforming CEQA is crucial because Ronald Reagan’s environmental law is structured in favor of increasing environmental destruction and continuing emissions. We need to redirect development to existing urban boundaries, so we can live fulfilling lives with smaller environmental footprints.

ThetaDeRaido

pasarina

It's fine, who  needs a habitable planet to exist on anyway?

Darkdragoon324

Oh it's no worry. The climate is easy to ignore, doesn't really do anything anyway, what's the worst that could happen?

JustTheWehrst

We're in the alarming situation today because "Democrats retreated" for the last 40 frikkin' years.

BadAsBroccoli

Nobody is going to be retreating if the news about the SMOC reversal is accurate and as threatening as it seems.

pantsmeplz

I'm starting to think we need to deal with climate change like the culture war. Run on better funding for schools, helping the economy fit the middle and lower class, and supporting new technology (aka green tech) and manufacturing of the future (green jobs). The average American has proven too stupid to understand why this is something important. Gotta brand it better so that when conservatives rant about it on their propaganda networks they sound like idiots. Kinda like how aoc and mamdani made fox look like idiots.

volanger

 Democrats passed the most pro-climate bill possibly in the world's history via infrastructre bill, and these activists barely said anything about it and certainly were not on their side on the election. Now, to complain about minor irrelevancies they are always the first in line. You are not serious people.

RDSF-SD

Johnnygunnz

I got thrown off r/envionment for saying thar the Democrats weren't serious about climate action.

Now Politico is saying it.

The mods on that sub are such tragic blue-brained libs... 🤦‍♂️

michaelrch

the only change that will matter is the development of a class of consumers who freely adopt lifestyle changes which minimize and boycott certain industries and businesses into extinction , while supporting the development of a political transformation in the liberal party to relinquish its attachment to the interests of the oligarchy and focus instead on the development of a new party platform focused on the concept of enlightened capitalism.

Efficient_Smilodon

Cost of living vs. having a place for mankind to survive.

pizzaschmizza39

PatientEconomics8540

where were you when we didn’t need you ?

luckeynumber

Now we have "abundance" which is just code for ecological deregulation and more fracking.

self-assembled

because we know it's a lost cause.  ca relies on ships,  trucks,  cars,  tourism, farming,  construction, and tech.

ilovefacebook

Hey, sometimes doing the bare minimum to prevent catastrophe just isn't politically realistic. There are multiple stakeholders to every issue and the "everything on fire" lobby has a lot of clout.

cassydd

I don’t want to save this planet anymore. Not after seeing dumb people breed and destroy the world.

Capital_Ad281

Simply change the message!!!!

* Wind and Solar energy are cheaper to produce than energy from gas and coal!
* Wind and Solar don't drive up insurance and health care costs since they don't crease so many illnesses. 
* Wind and Solar don't cost tax payers billions of dollars because toxic waste clean ups like Coal and Gas. 

We need to use language that the right wing and independents understand and care about.  Mention "climate change" and the right wing is immediately against it due to brainwashing.  So the message needs to be one they'll understand

"Why the f-uck would anyone not be for cheaper energy bill, lower insurance rates, and lower taxes?????"

Sea-Pomelo1210

munchinerara

wewantyoutowantus

Democrats retreat. Just say that. It’s a forever headline. No details needed.

InterviewOk8013

Article mostly generalities and lacking in specifics

Anxious_Claim_5817

Honest-Marketing-987

They gutted the environmental quality act but banned straws. That's all you need to know.

Ok_Builder910

As a super liberal who thinks climate change will probably kill us all and hates how we are handling it, I'm honestly not surprised.

Biden was, by far, the more progressive climate activate president in history (not a high bar to be fair), and it was 100% driven by Democrats in Congress (since the President can't pass laws without Congress...).

How did voters repay Democrats? By giving the presidency and Congress to Republicans. And Republicans aren't even just "mellow" on climate change (as in, they aren't just "meh we don't need to do anything about it"). Republicans are basically "for" climate change - see Trump removing solar incentives. If climate change was a winning policy position, Republicans would get destroyed because it's the difference between 0K and 10^32 K. But Democrats can barely hang on. And sure, give me all the arguments about all the other positions Democrats hold that "aren't good enough" or whatever, but they are basically better than Republicans in every regard you can think, yet people don't bother to go out and vote for them. There's always an excuse. "They aren't addressing climate change *enough*" / "They aren't addressing Palestine/Gaza/Israel correctly." / "They didn't codify Roe." / "They didn't include a public option in the ACA." etc etc etc. While ignoring that Republicans aggressively block all these things or are a billion times worse for these things. Democrats didn't omit the public option - Republicans blocked including the public option.

But please keep blaming Democrats for not addressing climate change enough. And make sure you don't vote for them. If they win without your vote, they'll know they don't need it to win and so you can discard your opinion. And if you don't vote at all and they lose, they'll know you aren't a reliable voter and so they can discard your opinion.

More people need to vote in the primaries. Show politicians that climate change is a position that people will vote for. And then if you candidate loses, still make sure to go out and vote for the Democrat to keep pushing them in the right direction and also at the very least prevent us from going backwards when Republicans win.

Stever89

They aught to retreat on gun control, probably generates the most negative voter turnout of any issue and it’s killing dems in contested districts

my_name_is_nobody__

This is that bullshit about CEQA again. That law sucks and I'm glad it is getting reformed.

AstroPiDude314

Hear me out: I'm all for fixing this problem, but here's the thing that centrists and right wingers hear when a politician talks about climate change: "it's all YOUR fault".  While everyone that does believe in climate change understands the majority of it is out of any individuals control, that it's all the mega corps that are mostly responsible, then the message falls on deaf ears. 
It probably is smarter to find a more centrist message regarding climate, and figure out how to win elections first and foremost.  Once in power, especially if Dems can get the level of control the Rs have today, then they can implement a number of things (just hopefully they target corpos first and the hardest)

joshwaynebobbit

I thought the Democrates were supposed to have some principles ? /S

QVRedit

They retreated on immigrant rights and now the country has turned full fascist.

They retreated on Trans and LGBTQ rights and now Trump is running victory labs with cruel policy.

They aren't even trying anymore. They aren't talking about school shootings, they aren't talking about the climate disaster in Texas, they just gave up on anything and at most say they would do what the other side would do, but a little less cruel.

md_youdneverguess

They have shown themselves to be compromised and working for corporate and foreign interests first...the fact that the opposition party is no different and perhaps worse does not excuse this or make them more viable...

aManHasNoUsrName

they have to represent the people that vote. 

The left largely does not vote. 


to be fair the left says they care about tons of stuff but come election day there's always a new purity test.

Bawbawian

Good.

California needs to save it's last refineries and massively speed up housing construction. These laws were overwhelmingly exploited by the rich to stop housing construction so they don't have to be around the poor. Energy costs disproportionately hurt the lower classes. If you're against these changes just say you hate poor people.

Reynor247

If you want to actually try and do something about it, [call your rep](https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative) and [your senators](https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm) &amp;mdash; people [got the provisions to sell off public land removed](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/climate/public-lands-sell-off-dropped-mike-lee.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Sk8.s4pW.4koapDMnWeKG), so other changes are possible too

Trump is fast-tracking us toward climate collapse and an uninhabitable Earth.

Chart-Ordinary

It's a shame.  I think he is setting the country back on many fronts.  I was reading that all great empires terminate with rule by idiots.  That's just the way it is, but our elections come hard and fast and wishing us luck on the next election cycle.

jedrider

Calling all content creators

Get ready to hang all the extreme weather personal hardship stories around Republicans collective neck

AlexFromOgish

It's really vey bad. But nobody is making an effort to remove him.  And there are plenty of reasons to do that.  

Stop complaining and take action to stop him.

Thorvay

Caring requires empathy and courage, two things the Republican Party knows nothing about

Clean_Lettuce9321

How can Republicans understand if they're not educated in the first place!?!?!!

edtheheadache

What will it not destroy besides families, healthcare, veterans lives, wildlife species, national parks, clean energy....

free2bk8

Agreed ,but it is really bad that china will  own the world.Put the United States backwards .

LectureAgreeable923

OccasionBest7706

mczerniewski

'climate' progress is a lie, we're no where close to having a meaningful impact.

it's keeping people passive by lying to them that we're making things better.

and the other side of the coin is shaming people with the idea of being a 'doomer' for pointing it out.

its propaganda and it's very effective because people dont want to believe bad things

rainywanderingclouds

Mordrach

America is governed with scientific ignorance, religious bigotry, misogyny, patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, racism, and fascism.

gulfpapa99

Make sure you [call your senate representatives!](https://www.govtrack.us/) [find your script here](https://5calls.org/issue/court-contempt-enforcement-cuts-budget-reconciliation/)

1. Tax cuts that will bankrupt America
2. Cuts to Medicaid/Medicare
3. Cuts to snap
4. [Section 70302: unconstitutional provision to attack the courts](https://5calls.org/issue/court-contempt-enforcement-cuts-budget-reconciliation/) -- MOST IMPORTANT 

These are just a few things in this great bill, so much so that they need to discuss and pass this at 2 am in the morning. Share this message everywhere you can (especially about section 70302!!!)

Additional things you could ask your representative to support:

Senator Cory Booker introduced a bill [to transfer the US marshalls](https://www.booker.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/marshalsact.pdf) from the authority of the DOJ to the judiciary to insulate the courts and help them enforce their rulings on Trump. Tell them to support senator Cory Bookers Marshalls act.

Also, join the national flag day protests on June 14th at [nokings.org](http://nokings.org), if you're done with your calls and want to get involved, nows your chance!

KaibaCorpHQ

We might have to do the right thing on our own dime

string1969

And kill thousands upon thousands. Take away all the programs we need. Death is the point.

Dense-Ambassador-865

In 1985, Carl Sagan testified before Congress on the Greenhouse effect. He begins by defining the greenhouse effect, how it is established as scientific principle, how it affects other planets in the solar system and the cause of Earth's greenhouse effect.

He then proceeds to report that 2+C rise in global temperature is expected by mid 21st century and then to list the consequences and how it will affect every aspect of life.

The last part of his report is to put forth some solutions, although he expressly says he does not expect the solutions to be implemented due to lack of cooperation among nations and economic disaster to the status quo.

edit: typo

Cultural-Answer-321

"Fewer  government subsidies" for fossil fuel companies. Imagine such heresy.

BrtFrkwr

I love and am heartbroken watching this man speak. He saw the world for how it really was and spoke truth. All while so many others were spinning up a culture war that’s now coming to its fascist conclusion.

Another-Minnesotan

It's almost like BigEnergy/BigOil has been lying to the public for 70+ years, but there's nothing we can do about it. 

- Your carnivore dog is the problem. 
- Your recycling. 
- Your internet usage. 
- [...] 
- Citizens are the problem, because we only exist to sell to the public. 
- Regulations bad.

el0_0le

We knew, but it was easier to ignore because you couldn't see the consequences everywhere. I was 9 when he testified  and living in upstate New York. The summers averaged one 3 to 4 day stretch a season when it was miserably hot and a lot of people didn't even have window AC, let alone central. It still started to get cool in September. It still usually snowed in November and sometimes October if it was gonna be a bad year. 40 degrees in winter was warm, not normal. You didn't constantly hear about flooding in Manhattan and wildfires in California and 110 recorded temperatures in Oregon. Combined with oil company propaganda and general fear of change, denial was super common.

KatJen76

Apologies. That's "effect" not affect. It was too late to change.

Could you imagine a speech like this presented to today's government officials or even the general populace?

keintime

ComedyBits

Amazing.  
At 1'41"  
"And we have probably been doing on a smaller scale things like that, for a very long period of time, for example with slash and burn agriculture, which has been with us for tens of thousands of years probably, changes the climate to some extent by changing the albedo, the reflectivity of the earth."

This is the [Ruddiman hypothesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_anthropocene) (early antropocene), but in 1985... instead of 2003!

\+ the consequence of global warming: "There will be a several centigrade degree temperature increase on the earth by the middle to the end of the next century".

Also interesting is the involvment of Al Gore in these matters early on.

offrench

We were warned long before the late Dr. Sagan warned us.

&gt;By the end of the 1950s, anyone who read a newspaper could have been aware of the basic idea.

[https://theconversation.com/climate-change-first-went-viral-exactly-70-years-ago-205508](https://theconversation.com/climate-change-first-went-viral-exactly-70-years-ago-205508)

The_Weekend_Baker

And we’re still consuming like crazy, plastic is everywhere, fires rage like hell and bombs drop like rain.

It’s not just about fossil fuels, the problem is much bigger.

Black_RL

Ya know somehow nothing is going to matter soon, if you live in the states you will be under martial law by next year. good luck and god speed

DarkVandals

It’s been well know for a hundred years before this speach

gOldMcDonald

40 years later the government wants people to believe climate change is not real and derailing all efforts to a sustainable future. How dumb are we.

lord_of_tits

BeYeCursed100Fold

User_guy_unknown

&gt;If we don't do the right thing now...

We didn't.

&gt;There are very serious problems that our children and grandchildren will have to face.

We are.

TheUpperHand

Unfortunately, probably less than 1% of people saw this when it aired. Maybe 1% of americans.  My parents didn't even have cable at the time, and it aired on C-Span, one of the least-watched channels. No internet or social media, no one would be "sharing" it after it aired.

Some newspapers covered it, but it wasn't front page stuff, and people didn't read the whole newspaper, just whatever looked interesting.

Tidezen

Ok governments do something about it please. Start with USA, china, and Russia.

Maleficent-Count-191

rockcod_

Congress is currently debating critical climate change legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions and promoting renewable energy.

Climate Change Policy Legislation in Congress

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want