GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S steady drift toward the political center as she campaigns for a second term in the middle of an energy affordability crisis has elevated intense debates about whether the governor has all but thrown in the towel on fighting climate change, leaving a split among environmentalists as the natural gas industry tries to make inroads.

As Healey has tried to navigate soaring energy prices, a Trump administration hostile to wind power, ambitious climate commitments, and rising energy demand, she has picked up one key endorsement from the campaign arm of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, shared first with CommonWealth Beacon. The group has cast her as a pragmatic leader, citing her support for major reforms to the permitting and siting of new energy projects, investments in climate technologies, and recent executive action to secure more clean power.

Yet, some environmental advocates are holding back campaign contributions to express frustration that, in their view, the governor is deprioritizing climate change.

An annual fundraiser for Healey among climate advocates targeted to take place in May or June was recently scrapped due to an inability to cobble together enough donors, according to five environmental leaders in Massachusetts who have attended the gathering in the past, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. They noted the fundraiser still could happen later in the year as the gubernatorial race comes into clearer view.

Some of those advocates have directly relayed their dissatisfaction with the governor’s perceived lack of action on environmental issues to top Healey officials in recent weeks, CommonWealth Beacon has learned. Those concerns range from Healey’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal that cuts state environmental programs by 4 percent to what they say was her unwillingness to speak out against a proposal floated by House Democrats to abandon the state’s 2030 climate goals.

“We were better under Baker,” said one of the heads of a prominent environmental organization, referencing Healey’s Republican predecessor, adding that at least climate advocates knew where he stood on various issues and found his team more accessible.

Healey’s shift on climate is now starting to bleed into her campaign for a second term as players across the spectrum are looking to leverage their support in the November election to make gains on their issues. Some advocates are feeling left out, while others are rushing to Healey’s defense. And one natural gas industry group, Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, which counts energy companies like Enbridge as members, seems to be targeting Healey as ripe for influencing, claiming Healey’s office has been interested in its polling showing the popularity of natural gas.

Healey’s campaign declined to comment on the frustrations expressed by environmental advocates. Her team also said they have no record of Healey or her staff being in touch with the natural gas group.

The governor has had her share of climate wins as her first term winds down. Healey has introduced a new lower electric rate to encourage heat pump adoption, filed climate resilience legislation, and overseen the completion of major energy projects like Vineyard Wind and another that brings in hydropower from Canada.

“Gov. Healey deserves enormous credit for really pushing an aggressive and effective climate agenda,” Matt O’Malley, board chair of ELM’s action fund and a former Boston city councilor, said in an interview. “She’s also very adroitly married sustainability with affordability. These are two notions that aren’t in conflict. In fact, they should be pursued on parallel tracks, and she’s done that well. I’m surprised to hear folks who may not appreciate the difficult landscape that she’s in, but despite that, has been able to advance some really positive and effective policies and legislation.”

Still, while Healey doesn’t appear to be in imminent political danger, she has about $4.8 million cash on hand, compared to the $10 million war chest that billionaire GOP frontrunner Mike Minogue can tap, much of which is self-funded, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

The frustrated advocates — who would be donating to Healey in a personal capacity, in accordance with campaign finance rules — acknowledge that they are in a tricky position because they lack real political leverage typically necessary to influence policy or campaign strategy. They are, generally speaking, all but assured not to vote Republican or to advocate that their members support Healey’s opponents. And, in various ways, they still need the administration to deliver on their groups’ priorities, something the Healey campaign surely knows.

But the cards that the advocates do have — namely withholding money and directly airing their grievances with Healey’s team — they are now playing.

Many environmental advocates are still struggling to grasp the shift in Healey’s tone on climate issues, compared with her first campaign that propelled her into the governor’s office in 2023. In that campaign, she plastered a 5,000-word platform on her website documenting her approach to climate issues, ranging from the lawsuit she led against oil giant ExxonMobil as attorney general to her push to “electrify everything,” according to an archived version of her agenda.

Healey’s current campaign website includes five sentences on her commitment to protect the environment and another six on her push to lower energy bills. It mirrors a growing trend to focus on affordability among Democratic candidates seeking office this year.

The advocates, in interviews with CommonWealth Beacon, also expressed dismay at her embrace of nuclear power and the pace her administration is working toward finalizing wetlands permitting reforms. The governor, several advocates said, all but ignored climate change in her most recent State of the Commonwealth address.

But longing for the Baker administration is “revisionist history,” said George Bachrach, a former Democratic state senator and gubernatorial candidate who previously led the Environmental League of Massachusetts. The former governor was slow to embrace climate change as a core policy focus, before later signing landmark legislation that established a net-zero target.

Bachrach said that Healey is somewhat of a “free agent” given her upper hand in the gubernatorial race. “This simply is not her top issue, compared to housing or health care,” he added. “It’s not that she’s an adversary. It’s just not her issue, and it takes more effort to move her to the strongest possible position on the environment.”

As Healey contends with a crisis in energy affordability — ranked as the state’s top household concern this past winter — electric prices have surged in Massachusetts to double the national average.

That dynamic has led Healey to embrace an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy, something that had already turned heads, in particular her openness to new natural gas supply as a means of meeting growing energy demand and tamping down prices.

Now, a natural gas industry group is claiming some degree of access to Healey as she has shaped her posture on energy issues.

Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future said that Healey’s office contacted the group about polling it conducted last year, according to presentation materials and audio that was obtained by CommonWealth Beacon from an industry conference held in Norfolk, Virginia, last month. That poll found a clear majority of Massachusetts respondents support more natural gas investments and energy choice.

How the questions were framed may explain, at least in part, the results of the poll. For example, when asked, “A recent study of New England by a Democratic aligned think tank, the Progressive Policy Institute, found low-income communities were most at risk in an energy transition without natural gas due to higher prices. Thinking about your own state’s elected officials, do you believe they should focus on policies that reduce cost burdens on low-income communities,” 63 percent agreed with that statement.

Susan Waller, executive director of Natural Allies, said at the conference that she spoke with Healey earlier this year at the National Governors Association gathering in Washington, according to the audio.

Waller noted in her remarks at the conference how Healey’s approach to natural gas has evolved, citing her support last year for a gas expansion from Enbridge following earlier criticism of the fuel source when she served as attorney general.

“It’s becoming very evident to these folks that it’s critical to get pipeline infrastructure,” Waller said in the leaked audio.

Natural Allies, according to the conference materials, has made similar overtures with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, Northeastern Democrats who have expressed concerns about the high costs of energy in their states. It is also involved in other states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia, the organization’s website shows, and counts high-profile moderate Democrats like former US Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter as co-chairs.

Jacqui Manning, a spokesperson for Healey, said she could not confirm that a conversation with Waller took place, and Kerry Patrick Lyons, the press secretary for Healey’s campaign, said that a meeting between the campaign team and Natural Allies has not happened.

A spokesperson for Natural Allies said that the group “does not comment on private conversations.”

Healey’s position on natural gas will soon again be put to the test as Enbridge, the same company behind the earlier Algonquin expansion, is proposing a much larger pipeline expansion in New England.

The messy energy politics infusing Healey’s first term — accelerated by the Trump administration’s stymieing of offshore wind projects and other clean energy and efficiency measures — is now running headfirst into the campaign as she looks to position herself for a clean, convincing victory in November.

Evan Horowitz, executive director at the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, said at this point, the environmental groups should be approaching Healey the same way they dealt with Baker.

“I don’t think the governor benefits from looking very closely connected to environmental groups in the current climate,” said Horowitz. “She needs more space to pursue her own policies, some of which they’ll like, and some of which they won’t.”