What a Divided Government Means for Climate Policy

Political Climate

The 2022 midterm elections are officially behind us. Democrats overcame historical trends to keep control of the Senate, while Republicans won a majority in the House by a surprisingly narrow margin.

Ultimately, there was no red wave. There wasn’t really a “green wave” either. Democrats ushered through an ambitious legislative agenda, with President Biden signing historic bills to tackle climate change, build resilient infrastructure, and accelerate the deployment of American-made clean energy. Yet these issues got relatively little play this election cycle – for or against.

Have we entered a new era for climate politics? Could there even be room for collaboration? Or will a divided government post-election give new life to old debates?

Political Climate hosts Julia Pyper, Shane Skelton and Brandon Hurlbut dig into the midterm results, discuss what they got right — and wrong — in their election predictions, and break down what it all means for the future of climate policy in America.

Listen and subscribe to Political Climate on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or pretty much wherever you get podcasts! Follow us on Twitter at @Poli_Climate.

Recommended reading:

• Wesleyan Media Project: Advertising Issue Spotlight
• The Atlantic: Wait, Why Wasn’t There a Climate Backlash?
• Canary Media: How Democratic state wins in the midterms could rev up climate progress
• WaPo: How different groups voted according to exit polls and AP VoteCast

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Political Climate is brought to you by MCE. Today, MCE offers nearly 40 Bay Area communities almost twice as much renewable energy as the state average. The power of MCE is about more than clean energy — it’s the power of people over profit. Learn more at mceCleanEnergy.org.

Support for Political Climate also comes from Climate Positive, a podcast from Hannon Armstrong, the first U.S. public company solely dedicated to investing in climate solutions. The Climate Positive podcast features candid conversations with the leaders, innovators and changemakers driving our climate-positive future. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.