Hillary Clinton Lands Key Endorsement From League Of Conservation Voters

In order to create effective environmental legislation, Liberals must collaborate with Green Conservatives to change the minds of climate change deniers. To do this, Liberals should change the narrative to include some historically conservative values. This change in narrative must start during the 2016 presidential campaign.

On Monday, The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) endorsed Hillary Clinton for President after a questionnaire and interview process of each “pro-environment candidate” led them to believe that she is the stronger candidate on this issue. LCV argued that Clinton has a demonstrated history on environmental issues. In their official statement, LCV highlighted that Clinton pledged to build over 500 million solar panels by the end of her first term, “incentivize investment in renewable resources” through government grants, and “generate enough renewable energy to power every home” in the U.S.

As she garners this coveted endorsement, however, I hope Clinton will change the narrative back to a bi-partisan issue.

Regardless of which candidate environmentalist groups endorse, the narrative must change. To do this, we need to break through the hold that climate change deniers have on key Republican votes. In the back of my mind, I imagine the coal companies shouting to the GOP the following battle cry:

When it comes to the environment, however, this battle cry should be put to rest. After all, the environment should not be a polarizing issue. It is not like abortion or gun rights — two issues that have a long history of political contention. The environment is a topic that both parties have historically addressed. Some Republican environmental groups even claim ownership on the issue, alleging that “conservation and environmental stewardship are core conservative values.” They point to leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan as evidence that this is a Republican issue.

This issue should not be a partisan issue. Instead, proponents on both sides of the aisle should join together in an unprecedented grassroots campaign to unite U.S. citizens in order to affect real change. In order to convince the disbelievers, Liberals should consider changing the narrative on climate change.

In a recent discussion on HuffPost Live, Troy Campbell, an Assistant Marketing Professor at the University of Oregon, proclaimed that when it comes to climate change, liberals have dominated the discussion on this very important global issue. Mr. Campbell alleges that the liberal viewpoint can sometimes come across as too elitist. He stated that Liberals tend to focus on climate change as a global issue, focusing on topics such as saving the polar bears. He agreed with the conservative panel that the narrative from Liberals must shift to one that is inclusive of conservative values: green jobs, stewardship, family values and health.

Young Conservatives for Energy Reform, ConservAmerica, and many religious organizations want effective environmental legislation. Though Liberals do not agree with the many other political issues these groups believe in, the one thing Liberals can understand is the desperate need to protect the environment. For this reason, we must come to the table with conservatives to address this important global dilemma.

It is naive to think that any effort will change the minds of climate change deniers. There will always be those who are anti-climate change, just as there are those on the far right who are still birthers. But a bi-partisan grassroots campaign may be enough to win over some Republicans who have been on the fence over this issue. If the current pro-environment candidates can change the political narrative during their 2016 run, then the issue may become bi-partisan once again. With bi-partisan support, effective environmental policy change may actually occur.

Featured image courtesy of Rawstory