Conservative action on the environment has come a long way in recent years. One might have a hard time imagining that more Republicans voted for a piece of critical climate legislation such as the Growing Climate Solutions Act than Democrats or that Republicans launched a 60-member caucus in the House dedicated to promoting conservative leadership on the environment. But this is now our reality, and it is thanks to the hard work of young activists who built a powerful movement.
When we founded the American Conservation Coalition four years ago, our group was covered by reporters as a “man bites dog” sort of story. Few believed that conservatives really did care about the environment, much less that they believed in climate change and wanted solutions. Today, we can see clearly that these sentiments are true. From the Republican-led effort to pass the Great American Outdoors Act in the Senate last year to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s climate platform, Republicans have stepped up to the plate in a big way.
To be clear, this shift hasn’t been easy. There has been pushback from both voices on the Left and the Right as Republicans engage more actively on these issues. For those on the Left, such a dramatic shift was difficult to believe, and for those on the Right, the hesitancy to engage on what they perceived to be a “liberal” issue ran rampant. What many fail to realize, though, is that conservatives have a long history of being environmental champions and only recently lost their way in the environmental conversation. Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush all made significant contributions to environmental protection in this country. Returning to these conservation roots should not be looked at as a political ploy, but instead, a homecoming.
To this end, there have been tremendous successes in advancing the cause of conservative environmentalism. We have witnessed Republicans vote for climate legislation that in the past would have been unimaginable. Conservative activists advocated tirelessly for the Great American Outdoors Act and the Energy Act of 2020, both of which were signed by former President Donald Trump last year. We saw similar success recently with the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which was passed in the Senate only a few short weeks ago, with a vote of 92-8. As mentioned before, more Democrats voted “nay” (some of the most progressive in the caucus, in fact) than Republicans.
Beyond the legislative success that the conservative environmentalist movement has seen, we are seeing even more dramatic shifts in the rhetoric around environmental issues. Republicans have begun to talk about climate change and the environment. Even just five or six years ago, it would have been inconceivable that Republicans campaigned with environmental platforms. But in 2020, we saw a significant number of Republican candidates (including Michigan’s Peter Meijer, South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, and Florida’s Maria Elvira Salazar) talk explicitly about environmental issues on the campaign trail.
We are where we are right now because of the tireless work of countless conservative activists who have pushed for a change. Young conservatives were tired of being labeled climate deniers just because they favored a different approach to the environmental challenges we face. When the ACC was founded, our goal was to give young conservatives a voice on the environment. While this fight is nowhere near done, conservatives have reclaimed their seat at the environmental table. Now, the fight for solutions continues.
Benji Backer is the founder and president of the American Conservation Coalition.
