This sequence investigates how environmentalism, and support for policies to combat climate change in particular, became partisan issues in the United States. This was not inevitable. The partisanship we see today is unusual, compared to other issues, other countries, or even the US in the 1980s. Environmentalism became popular before it became partisan. The explanation of the partisanship centers on the choices of individual decision makers, not on broad structural or ideological factors. Climate scientists and environmentalists pursued alliances with Democratic politicians in the 1980s and early 1990s, while not pursuing alliances with Republican politicians, who were still receptive at the time. This neglect, along with several flawed attempts at legislation in the 1990s, gave fossil fuel companies an opportunity to ally with Republican politicians. The resulting increase in partisanship did not increase public support for environmentalism and made it less politically effective.

This sequence is drawn from an AI Impacts report: Why Did Environmentalism Become Partisan?