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The Politicization of Climate Change Environmental priorities point of contention between major parties Jane Clark, Opinions Editor, and Zoya Haq, Co-Arts & Life Editor
O
ver the past decade, climate change has joined immigration, healthcare and gun control rights on the ever-growing list of hyper-partisan American issues. Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced that climate change’s damage will become irreversible by 2030, this global issue has redefined American legislative priorities, shaping the presidential terms of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Youth Activism Republicans Although most student organizations combating climate change affiliate themselves with the political left, one pioneering conservative climate organization is the American Conservation Coalition. Entrepreneur and youth activist Benji Backer started the ACC while a student at the University of Washington as a “limited-government, free-market environmental group that believes we need to act now to find solutions.” Karly Matthews, the group’s communications director, said ACC allows young conservatives to enter the fight for climate action, one they
are often excluded from. “I was motivated to join ACC as a lifelong conservative [who] wanted to productively engage in environmental conversations,” Matthews said. “I was tired of the – admittedly deserved, at times – ‘climate denier’ label.” Matthews added the politicization of climate change makes it harder for both Democrats and Republicans to join together and approach the issue from a solution-oriented mindset. “Climate change has become a political wedge issue between the two major political parties in the United States, but I truly don’t believe it should be,” Matthews said. “We all share our natural environment and should be united in our desire to protect it for future generations.” ACC’s approach to climate activism synthesizes education and action. Its Market Environmentalism Academy introduces young conservatives to market-based environmental solutions; after engaging in a set of online courses, these students can then interact with their local ACC branches via community cleanups, speaking engagements and educational film screenings.
Democrats
A Yale study shows 87% of Democrats who are Millennials or younger support climate activism that urges elected officials to reduce global warming. American activists like Jamie Margolin, founder of youth organization Zero Hour, and Isra Hirsi, co-founder of the US Youth Climate Strike, are left-leaning upstanders in the fight against climate change. According to the Zero Hour website, Margolin co-founded the organization with fellow student activists Nadia Nazar, Madelaine Tew and Zanagee Artis. As a group, they “realized that a national day of mass action, led by youth, would be an ideal platform to ensure that young voices were not only centered in this conversation, but that elected officials and adults would hear their voices loud and clear!” With a similar hope — to introduce young voices to the climate fight — student activist Isra Hirsi organized hundreds of youth climate strikes during the spring of 2019. Inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Isra and two other students,
Art by Macy Moskovic
