Transcending Politics

I'm back!  My blogging rate has declined from about a post a week to about 2 posts a year, so I doubt I have readers anymore (anyone...?).  But, I've made a mid-year resolution to get back into it because it really is mentally (intellectually and emotionally) therapeutic for me to articulate and organize my thoughts.  Actually, I started a diary on my iPad to help me work through some difficult things this past spring, stuff too personal to put out there on the web (for now - I'll probably blog about it eventually).  I wanted a private space to write, and so I searched for free, password protected journal apps.  The one I ended up downloading makes me feel like I'm 12 again because it's called "My Secret Diary" and the cover page is pink with sparkly cursive lettering and a heart shaped lock that you tap to enter the passcode.  Inside it has pink lined paper and stickers you can add.  I guess if I really wanted something plain I could be an adult and pay for my journaling app, but pink-sparkly-hearts are fine with me.

But anyway, I've been feeling the bug to blog again, and right now I want to take about this article about ConservAmerica, which I came across while searching for relevant stories to use in my intro environmental science class.  I don't plan to share this article with the class, but I usually do comment on the existence of ConservAmerica when I lecture on societal responses to climate change.  Many things sadden me about political polarization in the U.S., but the exclusive lumping of anything "environmental" or "green" with liberals is especially distressing.  That's why I try to show my students that recognizing and wanting to solve environmental problems is not a matter of one's political leaning (see blog post title).  It's simply a matter of being informed, rightfully concerned, but also rightfully hopeful.  Of course, when it comes to what we actually do about these problems, there's bound to be disagreement across the political spectrum.  Still, such disagreement initiates far more useful, potentially productive conversations than pointless arguments about whether climate change is real or whether oil really is non-renewable (here's a really cool example of such a potentially productive conversation between conservative and liberal think tanks - a story I DO share with my students).

I also think the article raises a valid point about the way that most environmental groups sometimes neglect the "green" contributions of Republican politicians.  The article notes Nixon signing the ESA, but off the top of my head I can also think of Bush I signing the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments (of which cap-and-trade was a hallmark and now most Republicans are vehemently opposed to cap-and-trade) and Bush II establishing one of the largest marine sanctuaries.  I realize most liberals (myself included) would be quick to point out W's many policies that could reasonably be deemed "anti-environmental" and argue that one marine reserve hardly makes up for them.  But, this only serves to reinforce the "all liberals are green, all conservatives are anti-green" dichotomy, which, as I indicated, does nothing productive for addressing our critical environmental problems.  I hope ConservAmerica grows and that all environmentally-minded organizations can find common ground.