E19: E19: Benji Backer's new brand of conservative ecoactivism could help save the planet

Right Now with Stephen Kent

There are plenty of conservatives who want to fight climate change. But how can Republicans create environmental policies that resonate with red state voters?
On a new episode of "Right Now with Stephen Kent," Stephen sits down with Benji Backer, the founder and president of the American Conservation Coalition, for a conversation about why today's environmental messaging fails to resonate with conservative Americans living in rural areas, the pros and cons of the environmental policies in the Biden infrastructure plan, why severe weather events are not the same thing as climate change, why and when conservatives started caring more about the environment, and the technology and innovations that we need to combat global warming. Subscribe to Rightly and check out additional info about their conversation below.
Subscribe to Rightly and check out additional info about their conversation below.
---- Content of This Episode ----
00:00 Episode start
00:05 Hot time, summer in the city
03:00 Welcome Benji Backer
04:23 Weather is not climate change, and vice versa
06:36 Conservatives changing their tune – adagio
08:30 Benji’s life-long activism
10:02 Environmental conservatism lives in the West
12:17 Getting the messaging right
17:40 The language of self-interest
23:04 Conservative Climate Caucus v Roosevelt Caucus
28:00 My little steps don’t matter, or do they?
32:26 The Sunrise Movement March
35:30 Getting ag on board
37:05 Good foundations for climate policy
39:00 The innovations we need now
42:34 Goals for 2021 and beyond
43:45 Good news on jobs, the Bucks and meat

---- Reading List ----
A lesson from Biden’s plan: If everything is infrastructure, nothing is (Benji Backer for Deseret News)
https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2021/4/19/22387900/biden-infrastructure-plan-two-trillion-dollars-american-jobs-plan-benji-backer-acc

Manassas schools’ proposed anti-racism policy an excuse to explain classroom challenges (Potomac Local News)
https://potomaclocal.com/2021/06/26/manassas-schools-proposed-equity-policy-is-wrong/
U.S. climate ads by conservatives, for conservatives, shift views (David Sherfinski for Reuters)
https://news.trust.org/item/20210630113113-dvenb
Toward a Conservative Environmentalism (Nate Hochman for National Review)
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/09/21/toward-a-conservative-environmentalism/#slide-1
Active Forest Management Will Reverse the Trend of Intensifying Wildfires (American Conservation Coalition)
https://www.acc.eco/blog/2018/8/16/active-forest-management-will-reverse-the-trend-of-intensifying-wildfires
U.S. conservatives stake claim to climate activism with Miami rally (Timothy Gardner for Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-climate-conservatives-rally/u-s-conservatives-stake-claim-to-climate-activism-with-miami-rally-idINL2N2NK2Z3
1 big thing: Biden's ticking climate clock (Mike Allen for Axios)
https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-deep-dives-e38f6cc4-51d9-4605-8e5f-cbe55a9d63c6.html
'This photo captures how we feel': Photo of firefighter in Big Sur's Willow Fire goes viral (Amy Graff for SFGATE)
https://www.sfgate.com/california-wildfires/article/firefighter-hotshot-Justin-Grunewald-Willow-Fire-16274671.php
---- Plugs for our guest ----
Follow Benji Backer on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BenjiBacker
Learn more about the American Conservation Coalition:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACC_National
Website: https://www.acc.eco/membership