Speak for the Trees

written by Josie Hammond and Liv Adao

Good evening, fellow treehuggers, and welcome back! Long time no see…literally! We hope you all had an excellent summer. The last month for us has been very chaotic, but we are back and better than ever! We wish you the best going into this school year, work week, or whatever adventure you may be up to—perhaps even climbing the Tetons? Today, we will be playing history teacher as we delve into the politics of the environment. Truly riveting stuff (no sarcasm here)! But first, of course, some wisdom from Mary Oliver.

We hope your summer consisted of lots of “looking” and “listening” in nature! This message does not directly relate to the article today, but it is nevertheless a gentle reminder to appreciate the beauty of the natural world away from the things of man.

Now let’s shift our focus back to the history of it all. Looking at environmental politics from the establishment of the United States up until about the 1980s, environmental protection was relatively nonpartisan, meaning there was no bias from either party on environmental issues. Typically, politicians from both parties were in agreement on conservationism. At this time, of course, conservation efforts were not at the height of how we see them today, but before the industrial revolution and its mass production and development in the 18th and 19th centuries, the environment didn’t need as much help. However, as the condition of our earth began to rapidly deteriorate and expansionism threatened our public land, things had to change—Republican and Democratic politicians stepped up to the plate. Most notably, in the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, led the movement to create the national parks system, establishing the United States Forest Service. Roosevelt is well known for being one of the first presidents to really address conservation concerns, which is ironic considering how the Republican Party today views conservation efforts. Then, Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the first Clean Air Act in December 1963, and after him, Republican Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency. As you can see, when environmental issues first started to grasp the political conscience, both sides of the political spectrum were willing to participate in the action. But since the 1980s, environmentalism has been a contentious political issue. The split between the parties comes from Republicans being more focused on business and industry, which typically hurts the environment, versus Democrats, who are generally more focused on restricting industry for the good of humans and the planet we inhabit. 

So, where specifically do we see this split? It is seen to have started in the early 1980s, as the Reagan administration labeled environmental regulations a burden on the economy and tried to weaken them and reduce their enforcement. Reagan was a revolutionary Republican who set the stage for many of the party’s main ideologies even today, with his trickle-down economics or “Reaganomics”, tax cuts, and conservative ideals (Shoutout APUSH). Thus, his environmental stance was adopted by the Republican Party at large. The anti-environmental orientation of the Republican Party became particularly noticeable again following the Newt Gingrich–led Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, sparking a modest negative reaction from the public, and has been greatly amplified during the George W.Bush administration. Thus, a new pattern of division between the two political parties on the issue of the environment emerged. 

Now, you may be wondering what all of this has to do with the present day. Well, if you haven’t noticed already, this political divide within the environmental protection realm is still prevalent. Trump’s infamous words, “drill, baby, drill” at his inauguration, set the tone for what was ahead on the Republican agenda. To name a few of the concerning actions taken: Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Accords, a pact aimed at curbing long-term global warming; revoked the roadless rule, which was meant to protect roadless areas of national forests; signed an executive order to create a new “National Energy Dominance Council” aimed at increasing the country’s oil and gas production, threatened the sale of millions of acres of public land; and slashed funding for the EPA, NOAA, National Park Service, and USDA environmental programs, leading to significant staff cuts.

It is ironic how the Earth, something that is shared amongst us all, has become a topic of division. Regardless of your political beliefs, the Earth is something we must strive to protect! So the message we want to send out today is that there is nothing political about the beauty of this Earth, and there should be no party divisions when it comes to protecting it. If we want to make a difference and save our planet, we must remember when Thomas Jefferson said, “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” Though our parties have changed substantially since then, his message stays the same. If we want half a shot at protecting and helping our home, we have to think with our heads and hearts, not our party. Sweet dreams, treehuggers! Until next time…