You may be wondering why you are reading about climate change on a blog that is centered around politics and not the environment. Unfortunately, like I discussed in my blog about bipartisanship suffering in the U.S., even climate change is not safe from political opinions. The issue has strayed away from “climate change is a problem” to “climate change is a political agenda.” Just like many other issues (COVID, gun control, LGBTQ+ rights, etc.) climate change has taken on a notion of being supported mainly by one party, in this instance, democrats.

In fact, when Pew Research Center conducted a study that asked people of all identities of the political spectrum whether they support United States participation in international climate change efforts, 92% of democrats/leaning democrat supported the cause.

What you may not have known is the climate change over the years has also managed to garner the respect of a majority of republicans (53% according to Pew); however, 57% of people who identify as “conservative republicans” still do not support allying ourselves with international countries to help fight climate change around the world. And as you probably know, the process of making laws when half of the political figures do not agree with a cause is a slow, drawn out process.

But this blog is not to garner support for either side of the political spectrum, but instead to analyze how we got to a place where climate change is now a political issue instead of a humanitarian effort to help the earth.

One things that does not help the case for climate change is that many people believe it is “exaggerated.” An article by Brookings recounts that not even natural disasters or noticeable climate changes have an effect on opinion.

Brookings also published an article tellings us why Americans “can’t wrap our heads around” the issue of climate change. Some of these include the complexity of the issue and the fact the climate change solutions are centered around collective action.

There are also many other reasons that people say that takes away from the issue of climate change as a whole, but the bottom line is that there are now noticeable and irreversible changes that we are making to the environment, according to NASA.

Mostly, this issue goes back to the fact that America polarizes itself so much on an issue that it is impossible to make fast-paced changes. The only way for citizens to make decisions on climate change in general is to vote. Start listening to the issues of your local and state governments, who are the first stepping-stone to make real change. There are also small things you can do to stay sustainable and try to help combat climate change. A lot of people believe that a single person can not make a difference, but you really can!