In September, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, released a report that gives a hint at the expected line of argument. It highlights donations from oil and gas executives and links them to the Trump Administration’s regulatory rollback. And, to conclude, it suggests that those decisions have contributed to higher prices for consumers. 

For understandable reasons, analyses of how the election might shape the future of energy and climate tend to focus on policy outcomes. And there are many areas to follow closely. The results will shape efforts to pass a permitting reform bill in the time between the election and when new members of Congress take office in January. And members will debate funding levels for clean energy programs that survived cuts under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill last year. We will also see the seeds of bigger discussions about how the U.S. might rethink its approach to climate change if Democrats regain the White House, too.