by fern alling

advocacy groups have long documented the republican party’s failure to act decisively on climate change. the league of environmental voters, an environmental advocacy group, keeps score of how often politicians vote for environmentally-friendly legislation. republicans consistently score worse than democrats. prominent party members like ted cruz, marco rubio and kevin mccarthy have lifetime scores of 3%, 7% and 4%, respectively.

legislators aren’t the only ones who disregard environmental concerns. a 2023 report from the yale program on climate change communications suggests around 44% of republicans are “doubtful” or “dismissive” of climate change. “doubtful” and “dismissive” are two of the six categories the yale program uses to describe how engaged certain demographics are with climate issues. 

although this group has a strong presence, it doesn’t describe the whole party. the same yale report indicated over one-quarter of republicans surveyed were “concerned” or “alarmed” about climate change. 

whether they work with a conservative climate group like the american conservation coalition or engage with environmental issues on their own terms, climate-oriented republicans are eager for legislative action that aligns with their values. understanding their perspectives will be essential to climate action during the next administration. 

an economic argument for climate action

the 2024 election revealed the extent to which economics weighed on americans’ minds. a gallup poll conducted in september found the economy was the issue voters were most likely to say was “extremely important” to their vote. 

katie zakrzewski, 26, said these heightened economic concerns create an opportunity to sell people on climate policy.

“i think there’s great economic gain in going environmentally friendly,” she said.

zakrzewski co-founded green tea party radio with two other young conservatives after realizing they could count the number of conservative environmental podcasts they liked on one hand. zakrzewski said she was excited by a clean energy transition’s potential to uplift struggling communities.

she referenced the inflation reduction act, which included landmark climate action legislation, and was passed by the biden administration in 2022. the legislation provides tax credits for electric vehicle purchases and increased tariffs on clean energy technology produced in china. a report from e2, a nonpartisan clean jobs advocacy group, estimated incentives from the inflation reduction act would generate 67,000 jobs and $2 billion in income for rural communities. 

republicans voted unanimously against the measure in 2022, though 78% of its investments went to republican-led districts. zakrzewski said the party complained about the price tag, but the fact that they still spent the money and are seeing results is “one of the strongest arguments for the benefits of addressing climate change.” 

president trump said he planned to go after the measure while on the campaign trail. but republican support for the measure appears to be shifting in its favor. a group of 18 house republicans signed a letter in august urging house speaker mike johnson to protect funds allocated by the act. 

david jenkins is the president of conservatives for responsible stewardship, a virginia-based nonprofit “founded on the premise that environmental stewardship and natural resource conservation are inherently conservative.” he said he’s concerned rolling back the measure would interfere with the direction the economy is taking. this is one possible conservative approach to evaluating fossil fuel alternatives: weighing their economic value. 

“put your faith in the market. if the market is saying solar is cheaper than making electricity with natural gas, then that’s fine,” jenkins said.

“all of the above” energy production

jeff kupfer is the president of conservamerica, a nonprofit conservation organization seeking to enact lasting policy that protects the environment and the economy. he said he hopes the trump administration will facilitate energy development in the u.s. across the board.

“we can’t just pick one or two types [of energy production] that we think are the right ones to pursue,” said kupfer. “we’re going to need all of the above.”

many republicans favor increasing fossil fuel production. however, their support for renewable energy is roughly equivalent. research from the pew center in 2023 found 73% of republicans supported increasing offshore oil and gas drilling but 70% supported building more solar farms.

part of increasing fossil fuel production could involve rolling back protections for public lands, a move that clashes with conservatives for responsible stewardship’s ethos. 

president trump indicated in campaign speeches that he plans to continue expanding oil and gas production in the u.s. he permitted drilling in the arctic national wildlife refuge in alaska during his first term, a move that was widely criticized by environmental groups. jenkins said he expects trump will try again during his second term, and is concerned about what that could mean for vulnerable wildlife like the millions of birds who migrate to the refuge.

“that’s like the cradle of life of our country,” jenkins said. 

kupfer, on the other hand, said he’s open to the idea of opening more alaskan land for energy development. 

“looking at federal lands, not just for keeping them pristine and off-limits, but using them for various purposes is a reasonable approach to how we look at the country’s energy mix and public land usage,” kupfer said. 

conservatives can be environmentalists 

nicolas walker, a political science student at sam houston state university in texas, couldn’t get momentum going on a fundraiser for people impacted by hurricanes helene and milton. so the 22-year-old decided to switch tactics.

“i said, ‘you know what, i’m going to have to authorize boots on the ground.’” said walker. “but since i don’t have any executive authority, i had to put my own boots on the ground.”

on oct. 14, walker drove over 3,000 miles to florida to assist with recovery efforts. he spent a week traveling across impacted areas cleaning up debris, disinfecting houses afflicted with toxic mold and chatting with people affected by the disaster.

walker said he thinks partisan connotations behind the word “environmentalist” are part of the reason why conservatives don’t often use the label themselves.

“it conjures up this negative image of some hippie protesting on the side of the road or this guy throwing tomato soup on a van gough painting,” walker said. 

protesters with climate activism group just stop oil threw tomato soup on a van gough painting in an effort to draw attention to the climate crisis in october 2022. 

walker countered by pointing to environmental action under previous republican presidents. theodore roosevelt established the u.s. forest service, which manages nearly 200 million acres of public lands. richard nixon founded the environmental protection agency in 1971, which enforces federal environmental laws and cleans up toxic sites. george h. w. bush signed the clean air act, which is estimated to have prevented 120,000 emergency room visits associated with poor air quality as of 2020, according to epa data.

“i don’t believe that conservatism and environmentalism should oppose one another,” walker said. 

jenkins said he rarely gets pushback when talking to conservative groups about climate change, but the lack of party leadership on the issue can make it challenging for climate-concerned republicans to act. 

“it’s one of those problems that’s so big they don’t know what to do about it,” jenkins said. “and if their own party, the people they trust, are not offering solutions to them, then they don’t know what to do with that.”

since his audience “instinctually opposes” any policies proposed by democrats, jenkins says he uses liberal environmental policies as a foil to argue for republican-led climate action. his go-to phrase?

“the issue is too important to leave to the left.” 

but that’s not to say collaboration is off the table.

“it’s not about red [or] blue, it’s about green,” said walker. “no matter what state you’re in, no matter who the state voted for, you could benefit from pragmatic policy and conservation.”