The fundamental problem for Republicans when it comes to the environment is that whatever you say is viewed through the prism of suspicion.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The environment is better and better for Democrats.
This Bush administration has a growing credibility gap, maybe even a credibility chasm, on environmental policy. The President has lost the trust of the American people when it comes to the environment.
I can trace my environmentally-friendly lifestyle back to my childhood. My father was a conservative Republican that liked to 'conserve'.
Politics is the art of controlling your environment.
The environment has fallen to the wayside in politics.
I remember my Republican Party as fiscally conservative, as caring about the environment.
I don't think you can be a credible, modern candidate for president without making the environment a major part of your platform.
Politicians usually get the blame for dragging their feet on environmental issues. And fair enough. Most of them do just that. But the blame isn't theirs alone. For politicians afraid of losing votes, a bristling media waiting to transform good green ideas into monsters is a colossal disincentive.
Americans have long trusted the views of Democrats on the environment, the economy, education, and health care, but national security is the one matter about which Republicans have maintained what political scientists call 'issue ownership.'
When you talk to a Republican, many of them just outright say, 'Yeah. Climate change isn't real,' without assessing the facts, and it's a big problem. It's not a red or blue issue, it's a green issue... Not because of facts or science but because of emotion.