Mother Jones: When Did Republicans Start Hating the Environment?

[Scuba]

http://m.motherjones.com/environment/2014/08/republicans-environment-hate-polarization

It's one of those facts that sweeps you back into an alien, almost unrecognizable era. On July 9, 1970, Republican President Richard Nixon announced to Congress his plans to create the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By the end of that year, both agencies were a reality. Nowadays, among their other tasks, they either monitor or seek to mitigate the problem of global warming—actions that make today's Republicans, Nixon's heirs, completely livid. To give one example of how anti-environment the right today is, just consider this ThinkProgress analysis, finding that "over 58 percent" of congressional Republicans refuse to accept the science of climate change.

So what happened to the GOP, from the time of Nixon to the present, to turn an environmental leader into an environmental retrograde? According to a new study in the journal Social Science Research, the key change actually began around the year 1991—when the Soviet Union fell. "The conservative movement replaced the 'Red Scare' with a new 'Green Scare' and became increasingly hostile to environmental protection at that time," argues sociologist Aaron McCright of Michigan State University and two colleagues.

So is that causal explanation right? Before getting to that question, let's examine the study itself. For starters, it is pretty much undebatable that Americans today are polarized over environmental issues. In a figure in their paper, McCright and his colleagues visualize this polarization by charting the average League of Conservation Voters environmental scores for congressional Democrats and Republicans from 1970 through 2013:



One of the items then listed is "the environment" or "improving and protecting the environment." Here's how many Americans responded to that question over time by saying that we're spending "too little" on environmental protection, separated by political party membership:

[Turbineguy]

1. They don't hate the environment

they love to destroy it.

[stillwaiting]

2. I think it's simply their selfishness and greed that trumps any concern about the environment.

They don't hate the environment, but they truly can't be bothered to care about it.

Also, those evil liberals care about it so I'm sure they get some sense of accomplishment in thwarting liberals.

They truly are such easy and ridiculous puppets for monied interests. So much so that they don't even care about the air their children breathe, the water their children drink, or the safety of the land and waters that surround them.

[DiverDave]

3. When they saw profit$

Pretty much forever.

[underpants]

4. Interesting. The conservative movement mainly serves/protects two groups

Polluters and racists

[catbyte]

5. I noticed it starting during the Reagan Administration with that Happy Horror's contempt

for the environment by appointing James Watt Secretary of the Interior. It was ratcheted up further by protobaggers like Sciafe & the Koch boys, who attempted to demonize anyone concerned about the environment as a "wussy, tree-hugging liberal." Then cretins like Gingrinch jumped on the bandwagon during the Clinton years. They really went off the deep end when Al Gore started talking about GW (they knew deep down that he was a better man than Shrub and should have been President), and they now are batshit crazy what with that Awful Negro sullying up their White House. It's just so sad and wrong. And don't get me started with those vile "coal rollers."

[pnwmom]

6. Ronald Reagan put a happy face on anti-environmetalism; and his Secretary of the Environment,

James Watt, thought this mission was to "use" as much of the environment as possible before the anticipated Second Coming.

[Johonny]

7. The CEO mentality, no long term thinking. Whatever gets the stock price up today is good.

When they say they want a CEO president what they mean is "Fuck You."

[Triana]

8. When they learned to love MONEY more.

Money is God in the US. People like to pretend otherwise but it's true. Particularly within the GOP/Tea Party.

Money trumps EVERYTHING.