Environmentalism and the Conservative movement in the 21st century.

Rethinking Environmentalism in the modern fight for freedom

For many decades environmentalism has been associated with the political left. The founder of Earth Day was Gaylord Nelson who previously served as the Democrat Governer and later Senator from Wisconsin. Modern environmentalists such as Greta Thumburg are radically left-wing. Many are self-described socialists and some are even open Marxists.

The culmination of this left-wing environmentalist is the Green New Deal. The resolution introduced in 2019 by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocassio-Cortez calls for eliminating carbon emissions in the United States within 10 years of implimenting the plan. This will be achieved by going 100% renewable energy, going 100% EVs, and upgrading our manufacturing and agriculture to use less carbon. Sounds good right? Well not so much.

The Green New Deal as well as most of modern American environmentalism hinges on 3 big lies when it comes to the environment. One is that America is uniquely polluting so much of the world’s carbon emissions. Two is that these proposals by modern environmentalism have no downsides. Three is that the best solution to environmental problems is through the government.

The first myth that America is uniquely a significant polluter is easy to debunk. According to the Rhodium Group, China produces more than twice the amount of CO2 every year than the United States. While the U.S. has produced more carbon throughout history, China is rapidly catching up and may surpass the United States very soon.

The second myth is the claim that the solutions to the CO2 problem are super green with no consequences. According to the American Bird Observatory wind turbines kill over a million birds annually. According to the EU, hydropower kills more than one in five fish that pass through it. Electric Cars, while being more economically viable every year, and leading to more growth still have a big concern over morals given that cobalt a mineral used in batteries has been linked to child labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is not to mention all the trees that are cut down to install the “green infrastructure”.

The third myth is that the federal government is the best way to solve environmental issues. This could not be further from the truth. To start the Green new deal would be extremely expensive. On the low end, the Green party estimates $10 trillion over the next 10 years with some estimating the cost to be $93 trillion. In 2009 Solyndra was given $535 million in loans from the Obama administration. Two years later it was bankrupt. In the same city of Fremont California, Tesla Motors had purchased a factory and was designing the Tesla Model S. Today they are the most valuable car company in the world and are leading the green revolution. And while Tesla has certainly received government funding and Elon Musk’s transhumanist beliefs which are worth criticizing, no one can deny their impact on the world.

So what should American conservatives do to respond to the biggest issue that millennials and especially Generation Z care about? The answer is naturalism, also known as green libertarianism. Naturalism emphasizes that we as humans are not fully separate from nature and that we must conserve. It also is very anti-socialist and s large defender of property. This belief leads naturalism to advocate for individual responsibility in environmentalism rather than government force. This is why Elijah Mack started the Wild Caucus within the Libertarian party so we can protect the environment and our rights. With an emphasis on personal responsibility, encouraging energy companies to invest in nuclear power by voting with our dollars and understanding that fracking in places like the Permian basin, Alaska, and Green River formation in Utah are much better for the environment and Geopolitics than relying on authoritarian governments in Venezuela, Russia and the Middle East. These combined can help create a greener and freer society.