In 2021, the prospect of combating climate change through a bipartisan effort seems preposterous. Such an idea feels ridiculous. This is because climate policy in the United States has become one of the most divisive topics in American politics and American life at large. Research on climate change began over a century ago, but discussions about it first entered the political landscape in the 1960s under President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1965, after reading a report on the dangers of climate deterioration, Johnson called on Congress to “pass legislation to curb Carbon Dioxide pollution,” as per the Natural Resources Defence Council. Johnson’s successor, President Richard Nixon, was a vocal advocate for climate policy. Nixon oversaw the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. He was also instrumental in passing the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air and Water Acts, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Despite the partisanship that seems natural to any discussion of climate change, both President Nixon and President Johnson agreed that it was an urgent problem that they needed to address.
The discussion around climate change began to shift in the two Presidential Administrations that followed Nixon’s. Although President Gerald Ford acknowledged that climate change posed a serious threat, he did little to fight it. President Ford did offer his support for Nixon’s work in combating climate change. Nonetheless, in his reelection campaign against Jimmy Carter, he took a new stance altogether. Ford argued that climate change was a real problem, but business interests should receive priority. Carter, on the other hand, argued that economic issues and climate change have very little relevance to one another. As per a journal from the Water Pollution Control Federation, President Carter is quoted saying, “We should not be diverted in our cause by false claims that the protection of our ecology and wildlife means an end to growth and a decline in jobs.” Starting with Ford and Carter, the approach to climate change between the Democratic and Republican parties effectively split as Republicans emphasized business and the economy and Democrats prioritized climate science.
At the start of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, he furthered the partisan divide surrounding this topic. He argued that climate change was not nearly as important as preserving economic growth. During this time in the 1980s, denial of the existence of climate change gained popularity among Conservative Republicans. Furthermore, the dynamic that exists today surrounding climate change in politics began to take form. Nonetheless, in 1987, Reagan received a report detailing the dangers of the continuing destruction of the Ozone layer. The president overruled members of his cabinet who were against implementing climate change legislation when he chose to sign the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement that restricted the production of “substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.” At the beginning of George H. W. Bush’s presidency, climate policy was a priority, continuing off of Reagan’s support in the late 1980s. Yet, the Bush Administration refused to take part in climate discussions and frequently embraced the ideas of climate deniers. The Bush Administration set the United States on the course that it remains on, today, by making climate change a fundamentally partisan issue. While President Clinton and President Obama’s agendas emphasized climate change, President George W. Bush and President Trump’s administrations largely ignored the topic. Climate policy was not always a partisan issue yet, due to the specific actions of several of America’s recent Presidential administrations, it has become one of the most challenging issues to enact policy for.
