{"id":44395,"date":"2025-01-27t19:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-27t19:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=44395"},"modified":"2025-01-30t19:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30t19:02:18","slug":"climate-engaged-republicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/climate-engaged-republicans\/","title":{"rendered":"climate-engaged republicans see opportunity, challenges in coming years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
by fern alling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n advocacy groups have long documented the republican party\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n legislators aren\u2019t the only ones who disregard environmental concerns. a 2023 report<\/a> from the yale program on climate change communications suggests around 44% of republicans are \u201cdoubtful\u201d or \u201cdismissive\u201d of climate change. \u201cdoubtful\u201d and \u201cdismissive\u201d are two of the six categories the yale program uses to describe how engaged certain demographics are with climate issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n although this group has a strong presence, it doesn\u2019t describe the whole party. the same yale report indicated over one-quarter of republicans surveyed were \u201cconcerned\u201d or \u201calarmed\u201d about climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n the 2024 election revealed the extent to which economics weighed on americans\u2019 minds. a gallup poll conducted in september found the economy was the issue voters were most likely to say was \u201cextremely important\u201d<\/a> to their vote. <\/p>\n\n\n katie zakrzewski, 26, said these heightened economic concerns create an opportunity to sell people on climate policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201ci think there\u2019s great economic gain in going environmentally friendly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s potential to uplift struggling communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cone of the strongest arguments for the benefits of addressing climate change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n david jenkins is the president of conservatives for responsible stewardship, a virginia-based nonprofit \u201cfounded on the premise that environmental stewardship and natural resource conservation are inherently conservative.\u201d he said he\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cput your faith in the market. if the market is saying solar is cheaper than making electricity with natural gas, then that\u2019s fine,\u201d jenkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cwe can\u2019t just pick one or two types [of energy production] that we think are the right ones to pursue,\u201d said kupfer. \u201cwe\u2019re going to need all of the above.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nan economic argument for climate action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201call of the above\u201d energy production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n