The years leading up to 2025 were marked by rare optimism that the United States could finally do something about climate change. Former President Joe Biden called it a crisis “huge opportunity”“, and during his term, Congress passed the largest climate legislation in the country's history. The US seemed to be on the cusp of a greener future – until that momentum suddenly came to a halt..
Once President Donald Trump took office in January, he quickly brought an end to that era, vigorously attacking his predecessor's policies, gutting environmental protections and canceling climate research. Trump abandoned global climate commitments while aggressively promoting fossil fuels at home while the rest of the world installed more solar panels and wind turbines than ever before.
There's a word for this kind of reactionary reaction: green flashsocial and political reactions to efforts to limit emissions. During Trump's second term, climate change became politically radioactive word: Phrases including “clean energy,” “climate science,” and “pollution.” started to disappear from government sites.
And people all over the country followed suit. Corporations remained silent about their climate plans. Democratic politicians avoided phrases like “planetary emergency.” Media coverage of the climate crisis thinned. All this has reached ordinary Americans who say that they I hear less than before about climate change on social media and from people they know.
Bye green flash may seem like a very American phenomenon, it actually originated in Europe. The EU was one of the first to adopt comprehensive climate policies and also witnessed the first major wave green flash. This opposition was primarily driven by specific economic burdens — Germany's plan to switch to energy-efficient heat pumps caused a storm of indignation for example, homeowners worry about costs. In the United States green flash got more fuel from Trump-style populism and culture wars.
As the tumultuous year of 2025 draws to a close, dictionary editors have begun scouring the lexicon for words that capture its spirit. Their choice…Backup“, “bait for rage“, and the essentially meaningless phrase “6-7– points to a world that is very online and things aren't going much better. For us at Grist: green flash became the word of the year, marking the moment when climate change was removed from the list of political priorities.
The mood may have changed, but people in the US are ready how concerned about climate change as always, with about two-thirds saying they were concerned. The effects of a warming planet have been on full display this year, from the horrific fires that tore through parts of Los Angeles in January to the rain that swamped Texas in July, causing the nation's deadliest flash flood in half a century. It was also a turbulent time for climate change politics, a trend reflected in these words and phrases that capture the zeitgeist.
Carbon footprint
A cheeky way to measure your pet's contribution to climate change using the concept of carbon footprint..
This year, many articles have talked about how cats and dogs are huge. carbon footprint – and, wow, pet owners were excited about it. The main culprit is the meat diet they feed their pets, with beef in particular releasing a lot methanea powerful gas that warms the planet. The conversation really picked up steam this summer after an Associated Press headline: “People often make the wrong climate choices,” the study says. One surprise is having a dog.” The question of dog ownership was only a small part of this study, which examined how people assess the climate impact of various personal actions, such as going vegan or using public transport. But the headline's focus exploded Redditwhere people complained that focusing on individual responsibility instead of big systemic change was missing the point. “Climate change is actually your fault because you have a dog.” one user wrote sarcastically.
Cheap energy
A Democratic slogan linking clean energy to lower costs for consumers..
Hoping to reach Americans who are more concerned about rising energy bills than rising global temperatures, Democrats say: more and more about how pure energy is cheap energy. After losing the 2024 elections, many Democratic politicians turned to public opinion polls to find out what went wrong. One theory was that they spent I spend too much time talking about social issues such as climate change and LGBTQ+ rights, putting them at odds with voters who care more about affordability and healthcare. As one of the new think tanks, the Spotlight Institute, summed up: “Don’t talk about climate change.” Climate activists in Congress are not avoiding the topic entirely, but are instead promoting climate-friendly policies as a strategy to reduce the cost of living. In September, for example, two Democratic representatives, Sean Casten and Mike Levin, introduced “Cheap energy Agendas” There is some evidence that the turnaround could work after Democrats won the November midterm elections in energy-intensive races played an important role.
Critical minerals
Raw materials that are critical to modern technology, but in limited quantities..
It was difficult to avoid the phrase critical minerals in 2025, when it moved from political jargon to newspaper headlines. These metals, including lithium, cobalt, nickeland so-called “rare earth elements”—needed to create solar cells and batteries that power electric cars and e-bikes. The Trump administration has aggressively pursued these metals as part of its national security strategyhoping to obtain vital ingredients to produce everything from smartphones to high-tech military technology. Trump has signed executive orders calling for increased mining. critical minerals and fast-track approvals for new projects, and has set its sights on increasing overseas supply by negotiating deals in Ukraine, Central Africa and across Asia. Shares of some rare earth metals mining companies more than three times this year like critical minerals unwound. Some experts believe the future of geopolitics will be determined more by these critical metals than by oil.
Energy Dominance
A slogan turned political target highlighting fossil fuel production and American power..
When Trump signed an executive order on Inauguration Day aimed at “unleashing energy dominance” was a phrase that left experts scratching their heads. It soon became clear that this was all about maximizing oil, gas and coal production in order to gain leverage over other countries. It certainly had nothing to do with dominating the renewable energy market. Experts told Grist that this phrase seems more about the atmosphere than about specific political goals. It evokes nostalgia for what fossil fuels once promised—optimism, growth, and a certain ideal of masculine work. This kind of response to industrial decline and climate change even has a name: “petro-masculinity“
Green new scam
Trumpism That Opposes Climate Policy, Calling the Green New Deal a Conspiracy.
Green new scam has become the defining line of the Trump administration in the fight against climate change. Trump coined the catchphrase during rally in New Hampshire in 2023, while considering ways to criticize Biden's climate policies. When he landed on “Green new scamRenee Hobbs, who wrote a book about modern propaganda, told Grist that Trump's repetition Green new scam fits into the classic strategy: “You repeat phrases you want to stick to and downplay, ignore, minimize, or censor concepts that don't fit your agenda.”
rain alarm
A growing sense of fear caused by the rains.
For many people, the sound of raindrops is not comforting, but rather frightening. If you have experienced a flood, it can trigger traumatic memories leading to what is called rain alarm. “Does anyone else get a little stressed when it rains a lot?” reads typical reddit post about this. Floods have hit many parts of the United States this year—not just Texas, but New Mexico, Illinois, North Carolina, New YorkAnd Washington State. By midyear, the National Weather Service had published almost 4,000 flash flood warningswhich is the highest figure for this period since 1986. Data shows that approximately 20 to 30 percent of flood survivors develop depression or post-traumatic stress disorder in the months that follow. report from an international group of UN climate scientists. There is an obvious link to climate change: a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, making the idiom “when it rains, it pours” more real than ever before.
Swastikar
A new, derogatory name for Tesla cars, combining the words “swastika” and “car”..»
Tesla used to be the undisputed leader in the electric vehicle market, but that changed in 2025. After Elon Musk, the company's CEO, made two stiff hand gestures at Trump's inauguration in January, one question flooded the Internet: Was it a Nazi salute? Activists soon began pressuring people to stop buying Teslas and sell theirs. swastikas is a term that reflects the company's sudden transformation from a green status symbol to something associated with far-right extremism. This did not help the company's reputation when Musk began cutting jobs and funding at federal agencies as co-head of Trump's Department of Government Effectiveness, also known as DOGE. Tesla sales fell during the year – in United States And abroad – even as a company started producing cheaper models. Tesla also faces growing competition from Chinese electric vehicle company BYD and the loss of U.S. electric vehicle tax credits in late September after Congress repealed them.
