WASHINGTON DC — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has proposed a partial resurrection of clean energy incentives should his party regain power in Washington. The proposal follows a spike in global energy costs after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of the U.S. and Israel's attack on Iran.

Gasoline costs have soared above $4.10 a gallon nationally in the U.S., and President Donald Trump said gasoline costs could be a little bit higher by November. Polls show that gasoline costs are Americans' top concern regarding the Iran war. Democrats have pointed to high gasoline costs as evidence of the president's broken promises to lower the cost of living for Americans.

The Strait of Hormuz is the route for a fifth of the world's oil and gas. Democrats, who lost the 2024 election and have been focusing on inflation and affordability, have been reluctant to tie the conflict to any action on the climate crisis.

"There's a timely clash on climate and costs that Democrats can win, as long as we have the nerve to actually show up to the fight," Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said. "True energy independence will be achieved by powering our economy with renewable energy, the fuel sources for which are unlimited, free and independent of geopolitical events," he added.

Paul Bledsoe, a former climate adviser to the Clinton White House, said Democrats have not fully recognized the moment. "I don't think they've grasped the political opportunity yet," Bledsoe said. "When you pitch clean energy as cutting consumer costs first and improving the overall economy second, people are happy to cut emissions third," he said.

The Biden administration passed climate legislation designed to spur new jobs in the clean energy sector. Republicans now in control of Congress gutted the climate legislation. Trump has implemented a "drill, baby drill" approach to oil and gas extraction, has sought to kill off any alternative to fossil fuels, and has taken measures to halt domestic clean energy generation during the Iran crisis. The world's largest 100 oil and gas companies made more than $30bn every hour in unearned profit during the first month of the war.

The practice called climate hushing, in which politicians and businesses downplay or ignore the need to cut planet-heating emissions, has been prevalent in the U.S. during Trump's second term.