From President Theodore Roosevelt dramatically expanding public lands protections to President Richard Nixon signing the Clean Air Act, our best days have come when protecting the environment was led by leaders on both sides of the aisle.
Plenty of people in the environmental movement would’ve opposed anything pro-environment this president did on mere partisan principle. I’m not one of them. Early last year I worked closely with the president’s team and several cabinet officials to help shape a well-intentioned and potentially powerful executive order: “Make America Beautiful Again.” This initiative called on his cabinet to secure a historic investment in our public lands, our forests, our water, and outdoor recreation. I firmly believed in the concept, and I still believe in its potential, but we’ve gotten the opposite of what was promised.
Their record is dark. Thus far, the Trump Administration has gutted national park staff, opposed by around 86% of Americans. They’ve proposed sell-offs of public land, which is opposed by nearly 90% of voters in Western states, where these spaces are concentrated. They’ve prioritized rollbacks to policies like the Endangered Species Act, which is opposed by 85% of Americans. They’ve stripped protections for clean water, clean air, national forests, and more, also opposed by the vast majority of Americans.
I’ve sat across from dozens of White House officials, and I can tell you there are people who care deeply about conservation. My sense is that their voices are being drowned out by those who primarily act in opposition to the Democratic Party, many of whom have never spent real time in America’s grandeur and do not understand what it means to the rest of us. They are doing the president a disservice. His single most popular act in his first term was arguably signing the immensely bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act, the largest investment in our national parks in history. Now, on an issue that could unify the country and win him support from every walk of life, he and his team are deliberately walking the other way.
Two things can exist simultaneously. The economy is, understandably, the country’s top concern right now. But it does not have to come at the cost of shrinking or dismantling the country’s natural resources and beauty. Smart, limited government does not require slashing America's grandest idea. It does not mean choosing polluters over citizens. It does not mean railroading projects through communities that never asked for them. It does not mean overriding the will of the people.
Our air quality and water quality are worsening, invasive species are spreading at alarming rates, soil health is degrading, and much more. How we care for these resources should not be a partisan policy fight. It should be a productive dialogue that shapes the American landscape itself and improves the lives of families in every corner of the country.
I am often told by friends on the political left that Trump will never make conservation a priority, that Republicans simply hate the environment. I understand the cynicism.
My prediction: The Republican Party will continue to lose voters if they fail to protect our environment, and it should. Americans believe our nation’s beauty is worth defending. We ought to follow the public, not an endless political game of ping-pong.
America has always found a way, albeit imperfectly, to balance protecting our environment with growing our economy. We do not have to ruin our public lands to save our economy. Investing in the places that keep us whole benefits our mental health, our physical health, and our economic health.
The choice is his. And it shouldn’t be a hard one.
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