The United Nations released a new report in February that stated climate change is occurring faster than expected. The U.N.’s latest report was one in a series of studies warning that humans are nearing a red limit, after which it will not be possible to reverse the damage.
However, the federal government hasn’t passed major environmental protection legislation in decades. This is due to partisanship that has caused Congress to be in near total gridlock. It may be necessary for structural reforms to restore the shared sense and responsibility that drove the legislative processes of the mid-20th century.
The Clean Air Act was the first of a series if laws that Congress passed to limit human impact on the environment. However, momentum slowed in the 2000s as Both parties moved further from the center..
Stephen Long, director, government relations, The Nature Conservancy noted that although there have been some legislative actions on specific environmental issues, no major climate change legislation was passed in recent years.
According to Convergence CEO David Eisner who manages efforts to mediate disagreements on public policy issues on a wide range of issues, partisanship has been a major obstacle in Congress for decades.
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Since the 1980s, we’ve seen an increase in political tribalism. Eisner, who was responsible for major programs under both the Obama administration and George W. Bush, said that we’ve seen this steady march.
Studies show that the opposite party’s negative opinion is more common than positive ones. More than doubleSince 1994. There is a lot more distortion in the way Americans view each other. He said that Congress is the most poisonous place for this toxicity.
The two sides have generally divided into two camps on environmental matters, with the focus being on the debate over climate change and whether it is man-made.
Climate action has become a necessityAlmost exclusively aligned to DemocratsWhile Republicans tend to be Prioritize the economy over environmental concerns. Donald Trump, Republican President of the United States, announced itResignation from the 2015 Paris Climate Accord2017 was a year that Richard Nixon, a Republican President, strongly supported climate policy from the 1970s.
Golden era
The result of public concern about the environmental impact of human activities was the Clean Air Act1963. This law was passed by both parties and marked the beginning of a national effort for environmental protection. It also gave rise to the golden age of the modern environmental movement that spanned the 1960s through the 1980s.
Six years after enactment the Clean Air Act, Democratic Senator Henry Jackson proposed that the legislation be repealed. National Environmental Policy ActThis law was finally signed into law in 1970 by Nixon. This law was fundamental in creating a broad framework of environmental protection in the United States, and establishing the Council on Environmental Quality.
Nixon said that it is fitting that my first official act of the new decade is to approve National Environmental Policy Act. I [am]The 1970s must be the year America pays back its past debts by restoring the purity of its air, water, and living environment. It is literally now, or never.
Throughout the 1970s, Congress passed many other climate protection measures, including amendments to Clean Air Act. Clean Water ActWith bipartisan votes to approve and override Nixon’s veto,
This trend towards environmental protection continued into the following 20 years. The introduction of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability ActIn 1980, the legislation was passed with wide support as a response at Superfund sites’ devastation.
Polarization: Fact or fiction?
The American public may not be as polarized as the Congress partisan divide.
Both Long and Eisner said voters often agree on more issues than they realize because of media portrayals of their stances on certain issues. For example, publicopinionAccording to polling, the majority of Republicans give a lot of importance to government action against climate change.
Experts believe that structural changes must be made to the political system in order to return to bipartisan legislating.
Long, for example, believes that changing the campaign finance system will lead to better policymaking.
The cost of running campaigns has risen so much that elected officials have to spend a lot more time fundraising. This means that they spend less time making policy and more time getting acquainted with each other as people.
Others are focused on changing the election framework, which tends to favor highly partisan outcomes rather than selecting lawmakers who are willing and able to work together across the aisle.
Erik Olsen, cofounder of the Common Ground Committee, stated that we must acknowledge that there are structural elements to our electoral system which contribute to candidate selection that yields more partisan candidates.
Reform advocates often refer to closed primaries, partisan Gerrymandering, and First past the postElections as systemic constructs that strengthen partisan positions
Because only a small proportion of the population can determine the winner of an election (what Unite America refers too as the “The”). Problem principalOlsen stated that the media polarization you see on the internet and in media is not representative of the entire population.
According to Eisner and Long, the key is to find areas of agreement whenever they arise. Eisner emphasized the importance listening and self-awareness.
He said that listening is the key to understanding each other as human beings and allowing us to approach each others without judgement and with curiosity. To be able to recognize our biases, it is important to be self-aware. Once we are aware of our biases, we can correct them.
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