November 4, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Voters across the United States have delivered a scathing rebuke to the politics of corporate greed, corruption, and polluter giveaways, handing Democrats control of both the House and Senate. The message is clear: we want a government that puts people ahead of corporate interests. With Democrats winning control of the House and Senate, the next Congress has a real opportunity – and an obligation – to deliver meaningful improvements in Americans’ lives.
This is a moment to deliver. Soaring prices at the pump, insurance premiums, utility bills, health care, and groceries are straining families to the breaking point, with 1 in 3 households struggling to pay their energy bills. Pollution and extreme weather only compound these burdens, hitting low-income communities first and worst. As Americans confront the consequences of a rapidly warming planet in their homes, health, and their pocketbooks every day, they want action: voters across red and blue states overwhelmingly support environmental protections. Climate action is central to a people-first affordability agenda, and the next Congress must treat it like one.
Meanwhile, no industry has benefited more from Trump’s transactional corruption than Big Oil. After fossil fuel interests poured more than $200 million into helping Trump win the presidency, his administration rewarded them with billions in subsidies, weakened pollution controls, and rollbacks of safeguards that protect our families and communities.
Enough is enough. Congress must hold this administration accountable. That means using every tool at its disposal to investigate corruption, restore environmental protections, and stop policies that let powerful interests run roughshod over our communities. From data centers driving up electricity costs to industrial projects threatening public health, communities are already fighting back. Their leaders in Congress must stand with them, not with corporations and billionaires.
Finally, the United States must recognize that global climate solidarity is in our national interest. As the world's largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, the U.S. has a moral and legal imperative to help communities facing increasingly catastrophic climate impacts, from the Gulf Coast to the Global South. Turning our backs on international cooperation has not shielded American families from rising costs or climate disasters – in fact, it has only done the opposite.
The next Congress faces a choice: stand with the people or keep bending to billionaires and corporate polluters. Voters have made their demands clear. Now it’s time for Congress to deliver.
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Dr. Ife Kilimanjaro, Executive Director, U.S. Climate Action Network, said:
“Tuesday’s midterm elections results demonstrate a powerful rejection by people across the country of the Trump administration’s corrupt, pro-polluter agenda. Voters across the country have sent a powerful message and now elected leaders in Washington must get to work to deliver relief to the American people. One of the clearest ways to do that is to champion a transition off dirty, polluting fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. We can only be successful in this necessary transition if we center the needs of communities most impacted by the climate crisis.”
Katherine T. Egland, Founder/Deputy Executive Director, Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate, and Health Organization (EEECHO), said:
“America is back! Democracy has prevailed! We, the People, have spoken in favor of a more just and inclusive union. My climate vulnerable Gulf community, burdened with the prospects of resurrecting fossil fuels, permitting ultra deepwater oil drilling, constructing pipelines, and building AI data centers, will now have a chance for survival. The much-anticipated blue wave turned out to be a tsunami. When the whirlwinds settle, we will have a diverse Congress that reflects the makeup and values of our country. We will savor this win and continue to build on the promise of progress for all.”
Marnese Jackson, President and CEO of Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition, said:
“With Democrats winning the U.S. House and Senate and Michigan making history, this moment must translate into meaningful action. Clean indoor air, affordable energy, affordable housing and accountability for data center expansion are essential to protecting our communities. Clean air is not a luxury. Energy affordability is not optional. Community accountability is not negotiable.
Regardless of which party holds power, our responsibility remains the same: ensure that public policy protects people, advances environmental justice, and delivers a healthier, more equitable future for Michigan and the Midwest.”
Elizabeth Bast, Executive Director at Oil Change Action, said:
“Voters send a clear message: They’re fed up with Trump’s agenda of fossil fuel giveaways, illegal and immoral wars, and unchecked data center expansion that makes their lives more expensive while lining the pockets of Big Oil and Big Tech.
“This incoming Congress must listen to the people who elected it. That means standing up to the fossil fuel industry, stopping giveaways to polluters, protecting communities from unchecked expansion of data centers and liquified natural gas exports, and delivering affordable renewable energy.”
Dr. Denise Keele, Executive Director, Michigan Climate Action Network, said:
"Michigan families have been clear that their energy bills are too high, and they want leaders who will do something about it. Now is the time to deliver on campaign promises to lower costs, hold utilities accountable, protect against data center expansion, and advance clean energy solutions. We congratulate everyone on their election victories, and we look forward to partnering with them to advance community-led solutions."
Kim Scott Cook, Executive Director, Georgia WAND Education Fund, Inc., said:
“This historic midterm election was a rebuke of the Trump Administration’s contempt for the rule of law and its craven pursuit of increasing corporate profits at the expense of the American people. President Trump has allowed the gutting of methane gas limits, the rollback of critical 2024 climate pollution limits for fossil fuel power plants, and indifference to PFAS regulation and remediation. The American people are fed up and demand an end to public pain for private gain. We expect Congress to reinstate environmental and regulatory controls and rein in the data center industry’s plans to exploit our natural resources, expand nuclear energy, and increase energy costs for their sole benefit. The American people are worth investing in clean air, clean water, and expanding renewable energy production for future generations.”
Rachel Cleetus, Climate Program Director, Union of Concerned Scientists said:
“The American people have spoken up resoundingly rejecting the destructive, corrupt actions of the Trump administration, including the war on Iran and attacks on clean energy that have driven up costs for everyday people while boosting the profits of fossil fuel polluters. There is a real risk that a beleaguered Trump administration will double down on its authoritarian ways and continue to disrupt global climate progress and multilateral institutions. But Congress now has the power and responsibility to keep this reckless administration in check and ensure it is held accountable, at home and on the global stage. Clean energy progress will continue in the U.S. because it is the best path forward to lower energy costs, protect public health, and shield the economy from the fossil energy crisis—but unfortunately, it is unlikely to happen fast enough as long as the anti-science Trump administration is still in power. Simultaneously, Congress must invest in resilience for communities across the nation reeling from costly and deadly climate impacts as the world is on track to overshoot 1.5C of global warming.”
Brandon Wu, Director of Policy and Campaigns, ActionAid USA, said:
“Over the past two years, elites and corporations have capitulated to Donald Trump at every turn, enabling his worst impulses from grift to white supremacy to warmongering. After yesterday's election results, Congress has a clear mandate to listen to everyday people and not the elites who understand nothing but greed and selfishness. We expect the next Congress to firmly reject authoritarianism, hold this rogue administration accountable, and pass policies that deliver for everyday people - through economic, climate, migrant, gender, and racial justice, as well as a foreign policy based on solidarity and repair, not domination, extraction and supremacy.”
Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, Executive Director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, said:
“Every day in our hospitals and clinics, nurses see what a warming climate and unchecked pollution do to the human body – from children struggling to breathe through asthma attacks on scorching summer days to families crushed by the dual burden of soaring utility bills and toxic air. Public health and community survival must come before corporate polluter handouts.
As nurses, we know that a stable climate is the foundation of human health, and the next Congress has a vital, non-negotiable duty to end fossil fuel corruption, safeguard our environment, and put people first.”
Denise Abdul-Rahman, Founder & Project Director, Black Sun Light Sustainability, said:
“The People have spoken. Calling for truth, morality and people before the profiteers. Now let the new Congress reinstate SOLAR FOR ALL, a 7 billion dollar investment, with benefits to 40%+, directed to disadvantaged communities.’ Let us continue what we started which was to deliver just and clean energy jobs, contracts, cleaner air, resiliency and electric energy affordability FOR ALL!”
Mary Gutierrez, Founder/Director/Senior Scientist, Earth Ethics, Inc. said,
“As a Gulf Coast community, we are already confronting the consequences of a warming planet. Sea-level rise threatens our coastlines and homes, intensifying hurricanes put lives and livelihoods at risk, and saltwater intrusion threatens our freshwater supplies and vulnerable ecosystems. These are not distant or hypothetical threats; they are realities that demand urgent action. Our communities cannot afford policies that prioritize corporate profits over climate resilience, public health, and the protection of the natural resources on which our families and local economies depend. Environmental protection is not separate from economic justice; it is essential to it. Voters have spoken. Now Congress must deliver. Our health, our communities, our democracy, and the future of generations to come cannot afford anything less.”
RL Miller, Political Director of Climate Hawks Vote, said:
“People have spoken up against the Trump era of corruption and fossil fuel cronyism. It’s now time for Democrats to deliver a clean energy future.”
Rev. Michael Malcom, Founder/Executive Director, Peoples Justice Council said:
“We congratulate each victory that we see here today. Each victory has been a step in the right direction and is a repudiation of an administration that has refused to regulate data centers and the irresponsible buildout of AI and its infrastructure. We stand wholeheartedly with that 60% percent who cast their vote based on the issues they have with hyperscale data center buildout. We continue to fight, not only for today, but for our future generations, and we believe we have elected leaders who see it the same. “
Irene Burga, Climate Justice & Clean Air Director, GreenLatinos, said:
“The message from this election is clear: Americans want leaders who put their health, communities, and future ahead of corporate polluters. The current Congress must not use its remaining time to rush through reckless permitting reform that weakens environmental safeguards, silences frontline communities, and gives fossil fuel companies another free pass. And the incoming Congress must act with urgency to confront the unprecedented assault on public health and climate protections under the Trump administration. From efforts to dismantle EPA's Endangerment Finding to rollbacks of methane standards, power plant pollution limits, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, and protections against soot and smog, the damage is far-reaching. We need Congress to use every tool at its disposal to restore accountability, defend clean air, and rebuild the protections our communities depend on. Latino families have already paid far too high a price for pollution and climate inaction. They deserve a government that protects their health, not polluters' profits.”
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Sriram Madhusoodanan, U.S, Climate Action Network, smadhusoodanan@usclimatenetwork.org , +1(202) 430-6923
