Climate activists are pushing back against “climate hushing” with a campaign of demonstrations, meetings and petitions in at least 20 states, seeking to persuade Democratic lawmakers to speak openly about the climate crisis. The actions, coordinated by the Climate Action Campaign, challenge the idea that talking about global warming harms Democrats electorally.
The push comes after a summer in which torrential rains washed away Texas neighborhoods, dangerous heat blanketed much of the country, and smoke from Canadian wildfires choked communities as far south as Florida. Research shows global warming is making such extreme weather events more frequent and severe.
A response to “climate hushing”
Many Democrats who once described the climate crisis as an existential threat have largely stopped raising the issue, a trend activists say is misguided. Some policy strategists have argued that climate talk could alienate voters and distract from messages about affordability. Margie Alt, director of the Climate Action Campaign, called the effort “the broadest brush that we are working with.” “The message is, talk about climate, climate can’t wait, and we want to see action,” she said.
Environmental author Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org and founder of the senior-led climate group Third Act, said the climate movement has always advanced through pressure from ordinary people. “The long history of the climate movement proves that we move fastest when there’s real pressure from the grassroots,” he said. “All the evidence shows those grassroots are as worried about [the] climate crisis as they ever were.”
The events are set to take place over the next month during the House and Senate recess, when lawmakers return to their districts. Participants include local Sierra Club chapters, Third Act and local affiliates of the NAACP.
Rallies, meetings and petitions
Actions began on Thursday and take a variety of forms. In Michigan, participants are demonstrating against Republican representative Bill Huizenga, who voted for Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that boosted planet-heating fossil fuels. In Arizona, young activists are meeting with Democratic representative Adelita Shirley Grijalva, a climate champion, to encourage her to continue talking about global warming.
In other districts, organizers have circulated petitions calling on House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to prioritize climate issues, while some plan to press their representatives to connect the climate crisis to recent heatwaves.
Polling challenges the political caution
The campaign comes as new research undermines the rationale for “climate hushing.” A July study from the University of California, Santa Barbara found that emphasizing climate change was neutral to beneficial for Democratic candidates, suggesting that talking more about the issue does not alienate voters and can even increase support in competitive races.
Polling also shows most Americans do not share the Trump administration’s dismissal of climate policy as a “scam” or a “hoax.” A Data for Progress poll in July found that 61% of likely voters believe extreme weather has become more frequent over the past five years, including nearly half of Republicans. A Yale survey a month earlier found roughly two-thirds of Americans are worried about global warming.
Activists urge Democrats to act
McKibben said the issue offers politicians a clear opening. “Smart politicians will grab on this issue,” he said. “There’s perhaps no other question where the gulf between Maga and the general public is higher.”
Alt dismissed the strategy of staying quiet as “the climate denial of 2026.” “I don’t think that ignoring the climate crisis is smart politics,” she said. “I think that it is dropping the ball on the biggest threat the US and the world faces.”
