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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

Polarized politics leaves environmental issues on the sidelines

Polarized+politics+leaves+environmental+issues+on+the+sidelines

The next President will most likely play a big role in shaping future environmental legislation.
In a toxic political climate, it seems climate change is an issue that gets pushed to the side.

“People our age, this issue will affect us more so than the generation in front of us,” Jack McNeil, president of the DePaul Democrats, said.

“The more it gets talked about, I think the more likely Republicans will have to moderate,” he said. This could result in more discussion of climate change and environmental issues.

There has not always been such a large divide between the parties on environmental issues. It was during the Nixon administration that the 1970 clean Air Act was signed into law. That seems hard to believe in 2016, when the Republican presidential candidate has suggested on the record that he would end the Environmental Protection Agency altogether, according to The Huffington Post.

Little is found in common between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, so it comes as no surprise that they do not agree on environmental concerns. The Democratic Party and Republican Party remain incredibly divided, which raises doubts about whether or not valuable legislation to protect the environment could become law in future years. The environment isn’t an issue that voters care about within the Republican Party.

“While nearly half of Republicans in 2007 expressed concern about global warming, by 2010 the number had fallen to a third,” according to The Washington Post.

Clinton has an entire section on her website devoted to her environmental positions. Trump does not have an environment section on his website, though he does have an energy one.  This section contains many critiques of President Obama and Hillary Clinton but comes up short with specifics regarding the environment.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has lofty environmental goals for her administration if elected. 500,000 solar panels in place and enough renewable energy to power each home in America is what she would like by the end of her first term, according to her website.

“Trump wants to lift regulations on energy,” DePaul sophomore John Minster said. “Hillary has publicly declared she wants to put coal miners out of business.”

Republican candidate Donald Trump wants to reduce dependence on foreign sources of energy and is interested in increasing use of coal, according to his website.

“We’re past coal,” McNeil said. “They are stuck way in the past.”

Trump said on Twitter, “The Concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”  He has faced little backlash from fellow Republicans for this statement.

“A lot of them don’t believe in climate change,” McNeil said.  “We shouldn’t be having this debate anymore.”

“Donald Trump says things to grab attention,” Minster said. “He doesn’t really understand the issues and conservative political philosophy.”

Trump is not alone in political candidates either ignoring environmental concerns or denying they are a real concern. Some lawmakers who have denied climate science have also accepted large donations from the fossil fuel industry, according to ThinkProgress.

During the second Presidential debate, the topic of climate change and the environment was very briefly addressed. Neither Clinton nor Trump stated specifics for fighting climate change.

Hillary Clinton avoided specifics but acknowledged the problem of climate change in her response.

“So I have a really comprehensive energy policy, but it really does include fighting Climate change,” Clinton said.

Donald Trump avoided the discussion of climate change while still attacking the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton and the EPA.

“The EPA is so restrictive,” Trump said. “They are putting our energy companies out of business.”

According to Gallup, “Sixty-four percent of adults say they are worried ‘a great deal’ or ‘fair amount’ about global warming.”

Strong support from voters on the issue could bring Democrats and Republicans to the table to pass meaningful climate change legislation. The lack of energy from the two major party candidates on the issue seems troubling given a majority rank it is a concern.

Both McNeil and Minster note that their respective campus organizations (DePaul College Democrats and DePaul College Republicans) work to fight for their beliefs both at DePaul University and the city and country as a whole.

“DCR seeks to promote ideas, policies, philosophies that make life more prosperous for the country and the world,” Minster said.

DePaul Democrats are devoting a great deal of energy on the upcoming election. “We’re mainly focused on campaigning,” McNeil said.

The power to see change on environmental issues may rest in the hands of the voters. If enough voters fight for more progress to be made, politicians will likely listen, if nothing more, to protect their job.

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