A recent Pew Research Center poll has found a deep ideological divide on climate change between younger and older Republicans. A plurality of millennial Republicans believe in man-made climate change, and nearly half of them think that the government isn’t doing enough to counter its effects.
These numbers are nearly double those of Boomer and Gen-Xer Republicans who believe the same things. Not only does this highlight a generational divide among members of the GOP, but it also demonstrates where the Republican Party has failed to sell its narrative on climate change.
But does this poll reflect reality? Do millennial Republicans really believe in climate change? In my experience, yes.
As a student at the University of California, Berkeley, many of my conservative friends and acquaintances expressed similar sentiments to those recorded in the Pew poll. Even though UC Berkeley is one of the most liberal college campuses in America, its conservative population sticks out like a sore thumb – just not on the issue of climate change.
My Republican peers are in agreement with our liberal counterparts that climate change is occurring, whether man-made or naturally, and that its ill effects should be addressed in some manner or another. We believe in climate change precisely because we generally accept the science we are taught at university as well as high and middle schools.
However, there are a few caveats.
First, most Republican millennials, even those at environmentally conscious schools like UC Berkeley, view climate change as a less important issue than, say, national security or the state of the economy. Moreover, we still have plenty of doubts as to whether government regulation is the only solution to the problem.
As student debt-riddled fiscal conservatives, we comprehend the vast wastefulness and inefficiency of government and feel the monetary squeeze of gas taxes as we commute to and from campus and our homes. In light of our own experience and education, we are as open to mainstream climate change solutions as we are to possibly cheaper and more efficient market-based alternatives.
What this shows is that with conservative millennials, Republicans have lost the argument over whether or not climate change exists. They simply have not done a good enough job at persuading my generation that the science we learned throughout our teens is largely incorrect.
Does this mean the GOP has lost the battle of ideas altogether? Absolutely not.
In order to court the younger generation, Republicans must begin with this admission of failure and move on from there. Conservatives must either make stronger arguments against the science of climate change, or continue to refine their arguments for why millennials should be skeptical of mainstream climate change solutions. Otherwise the GOP will continue to waste resources on an argument they have already lost.
Even if the GOP chooses the latter route, they must propose their own alternative solutions to the problems of climate change precisely because a plurality of millennials believe in the existence of these problems and the inadequacy of the government in responding to them thus far. Ultimately, young people clamor for the party that offers concrete solutions, not mere expressions of doubt. The future leaders of America look to today’s leaders, not to do-nothings and hand-wringers.
If Republicans become leaders on climate change – whatever policy proposals that might entail – then they will only continue to win the support of younger Republicans.
