1. If Democrats do well, they could gain leverage to oppose Trump’s anti-climate agendaA
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they → do → agendaA
worker installs solar panels on the roof of a home in Kensington, Maryland, on 3 July 2025.
asserted
worker → install → July
Democrats take control of the House or Senate, they won’t be able to overturn previous Republican actions like gutting the Inflation Reduction Act, and they can’t pass new legislation that Trump would veto, but they will have more cards to play to oppose Trump’s pro-fossil fuel agenda going forward.
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they → take → agenda
If Democrats take back the House, it will mean the White House has to compromise with Democrats in order to pass budgets.
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House → take → budgets
This would give Democrats the power to add climate provisions into appropriations legislation, said Michael Gerrard, founder and director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.
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Gerrard → give → Law
“Many appropriations begin in the House, and these are huge bills that have to pass, so it’s possible that some pro-climate provisions could be put in some of the appropriations legislation,” he said.
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he → begin → legislation
“Often presidents sign appropriation bills that have provisions they don’t like because they need to get the budget passed.
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budget → sign → provisions
Democrats could also use their power in the House to launch investigations and subpoena witnesses and documents.
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Democrats → use → witnesses
Dan Farber, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley , suggested they could investigate possible conflicts of interest or corruption, like the Trump administration intervening in a federal lawsuit to allow Elon Musk to continue using portable gas generators in his Mississippi datacenter , which the suit alleges is a violation of the Clean Air Act.
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suit → suggest → Act
If Democrats win the Senate, they could oppose further confirmations of federal judges, cabinet officers and sub-cabinet positions.
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they → win → judges
“That gives [Democratic] senators some leverage to stop appointments they don’t want,” Farber said.
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Farber → give → appointments
“But you can also hold appointments hostage in return for other things.”
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you → hold → things
Preventing appointments of anti-climate judges would leave more vacancies for the next president to fill, he added.
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he → prevent → vacancies
“That can have a big long-term effect on the environment.”
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That → have → environment
Gerrard said a power shift in the House and Senate could change negotiations around the permitting bill which could clear hurdles for both clean energy and fossil fuels projects.
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which → say → projects
The bill would significantly weaken the National Environmental Policy Act, making it impossible for a court to halt a project due to a Nepa violation, he said.
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he → weaken → violation
“But if the Democrats are in charge of both the House and the Senate, that bill might look different.”
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bill → look → House
Farber and Gerrard said state climate policy also hangs in the balance this November.
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policy → say → balance
The Cook Political Report found that Democrats could gain two-to-four governor’s seats this cycle.
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Democrats → find → seats
“If some of the governor’s offices flip from Republican to Democrat, that could yield a profound change in state climate policy,” Gerrard said.
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Gerrard → flip → policy
If Republicans do well, expect more environmental rollbacks
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Republicans → do → rollbacks
Donald Trump poses with ‘The Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal’ trophy handed to him by Jim Grech, CEO of Peabody Energy, at a Champion of Coal event at the White House in Washington DC on 11 February 2026.
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Trump → pose → February
the Republicans buck polling predictions and manage to keep control of the House and Senate, it would embolden Trump to continue his anti-climate agenda.
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it → buck → agenda
Trump could continue his favoritism toward polluting companies, because Democrats would lack the investigative and subpoena powers to hold him accountable.
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him → continue → powers
And he could continue appointing conservative justices:
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he → continue → justices
“Trump has been packing the lower courts with anti-regulatory, super-conservative judges,” Farber said.
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Farber → pack → judges
Under this administration, Republican lawmakers have backed Trump on policies that were unfavorable to their constituents – such as voting to repeal clean energy tax credits that created jobs in their districts.
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that → back → districts
If Republicans win in the midterms, Republicans would continue to vote in support of Trump.
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Republicans → win → Trump
“Maybe even more so, because I think this would be seen as a big win for him personally,” Farber said.
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Farber → think → him
“They have not just been sitting on the sidelines – they have helped Trump, in terms of repealing the Inflation Reduction Act from Biden, and overturning some specific regulations by Congress.
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they → sit → Congress
We could see more of that kind of thing coming from them.
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more → see → them
So it would be another big step backwards,” Farber said.
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Farber → say → ?
“I keep thinking, how much worse could they do?
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they → keep → ?
But they always find something,” he added.
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he → find → something
As affordability remains a key issue, voters feel the pinch of Trump’s anti-climate policiesA
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voters → remain → pinch
Getty ImagesThe administration’s constraints on renewables are forcing consumers to spend more on energy.
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constraints → force → energy
A study by Nera predicted that between 2027 and 2033, economy-wide household energy costs would increase on average by $11.6bn annually from constraining the deployment of solar and wind.
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costs → predict → solar
The region hardest hit by these constraints is Texas, where rates are forecast to rise as much as 22%, the study found.
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study → hit → constraints
Trump’s attacks on clean energy have also led to mass job losses, including many in battleground states.
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attacks → lead → states
The US’s clean energy workforce lost nearly 37,000 jobs last year – the first annual job loss in America’s clean energy economy since the pandemic, according to a September report from E2 , a business advocacy group for the clean economy that analyzed Department of Energy data.
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that → lose → data
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
