By Chris Hildreth
Tucked into the Metro section of the Aug. 1 edition of the Florida Times-Union was an article first published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by Laura Schulte: “GOP environmentalists see climate deniers fading.”
Present amid the throngs chanting “Drill, baby, drill” at the Republican National Convention recently was Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation Coalition. Backer told the Journal Sentinel, “I think that slogan hurts America, because of how over-focused it is.”
He said, “To me, it shows the same problem that the Democratic Party has, which is kind of this fixation on certain energy sources. … Obviously, it’s important right now for America to continue oil and gas production from an economic and national security standpoint, from an energy reliability standpoint. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing.”
Backer and his colleagues manned a booth at the convention, handing out free copies of his book, “The Conservative Environmentalist.” They engaged delegates in conversations regarding, among other issues, all aspects of alternative energy production including wind, solar and nuclear energy. Backer stated there was nothing but positive feedback.
My first reaction to the article was that Republican environmental organizations are rare as hen’s teeth. But then, upon reflection, not so much. Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush all put skin in the game of climate change. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, Reagan supported the Montreal Protocol and H.W. Bush signed into law amendments strengthening the Clean Air Act. All were Republicans.
My second reaction was: Are Republican environmental groups as rare as hen’s teeth? Turns out they aren’t. Here are a few other organizations I found in a five-minute Google search. Take some time to check them out:
- Young Conservatives for Energy Reform, founded by Michele Combs in 2008
- Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, founded by James Dozier in 2013
- Conservative Energy Network, founded by Mark Pischa in 2016
They all promote an “all hands on deck” response to the challenges of climate change that includes most facets of alternative energy production, a departure from dependence on fossil fuels and some sort of carbon tax or fee. The fact of the matter is the Republican Party is not as monolithic as it has been presented by the media when it comes to a response to climate change
To me, this is not surprising as the loudest noises get the greatest attention in today’s media coverage. In this case, the “drill, baby, drill” people got the coverage while the “it’s not that simple” folks just got a bit more frustrated.
The Republican National Convention was covered extensively by a large number of news-gathering organizations. Many of them were national. Some were international. Backer had a booth at the convention — the Republican convention, mind you — dealing with climate change.
It raises a question: Shouldn’t that, at least, have caused one of those news outlets to say, “Wait a minute, what’s this, a climate change guy at the RNC?”
It’s so easy to grab video of Rep. Matt Gaetz (who actually believes in climate change, by the way) haranguing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Isn’t finding common denominators in a polarized community as newsworthy as finding spectacles?
Anyway, thank you, Laura Schulte, for your reporting. Thanks to the Florida Times Union as well for running the piece. It was a welcome indication that climate change deniers are, perhaps, not as numerous as once thought.
As for news organizations, maybe this should be a hint that it may be just as important to report about the planes that land along with the ones that crash.
Chris Hildreth lives in Jacksonville.
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