How Long Can the West Survive Republican Obstruction on Climate?
This is the song-and-dance routine that officials like Daines and Romney have spent years perfecting. If you were to sit down with them and ask general questions about their commitment to developing a sustainable energy model or protecting water sources, they would provide examples of bills theyve voted on in the past and likely agree about the need to adopt to our planets limitations. But when the time comes for them to cast their vote, those generalities quickly give way to partisan fealty. Daines has cast his votes in favor of carbon capture policies, introduced legislation for more thorough federal forest management approaches, and worked with now-former Colorado Republican senator Cory Gardner to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. During a 2020 challenge for his seat by former Montana governor Steve Bullock, Daines even doubled-down on his profile as a climate-sensitive conservative to (successfully) win over moderate voters. Daines did this because, as Colorado Colleges annual State of the Rockies report proved, the people of the West no longer think environmental issues can be separated from climate issues. 57 percent of Montana voters surveyed in 2020 called for immediate climate action, up 12 percent from 2011 and 84 percent responded that issues involving clean water, clean air, wildlife and public lands stand atop their lists in determining who to vote for in an election. This attitude is holding fast for voters across the West, which my partly explain why the majority of its senators are currently Democrats. But by operating in this gray area, Republican officials like Romney, Crapo, and Daines are able to get away with selling their limited climate actions during tight election years while regressing to the norm for the remaining five years of their term. Daines, the same official supposedly concerned about wildfire mitigation and carbon emissions, has toed McConnells line by denouncing the Green New Deal, lambasted the Paris climate agreement, and touted fracking as a viable alternative energy source. Daines also vociferously led the conservative campaign against Bidens Interior secretary, Deb Haaland, claiming she ignores science because of past conservation-friendly positions on wildlife management and steadfastly opposes fossil fuelsthis after Haaland said repeatedly in her nomination hearings that she recognized fossil fuel use would be unavoidable in the coming years. The political issues that divide the West and explain the partisan make-up of the states, tribal nations, and the entire region will soon be either shaped or entirely overshadowed by the ongoing effects of the climate crisis. With water levels in the Colorado River dropping with each passing year, Arizona is slated for severe water cuts by 2022, as are the other states who rely on the river. But conservatives continue to hope voters will compartmentalize the crisis, as with any other political topic. When the water doesnt flow out of the tap and the wildfire flames keep rolling closer, there will be excuseslists of reason after reason why pursuing federal legislation that effectively curbed carbon emissions would have temporarily hurt local economies.