A Gen Z Guide to American Political Economy

Environmentalists are empathetic and compassionate, passionate and perseverant. They are also undervalued. But they have trouble with strategic communication. As I mentioned in my first science communicator blog post, people who care about the environment need to be more tactical. Rather than try to convince voters to protect the environment for the greater good, they need to appeal to more selfish, individualistic concerns. Instead of helping voters understand the more impactful ecosystem services that nature provides, they focus on clean air and water, which most Americans already have. That’s not entirely wrong, clean air and water are still under threat from the modern Republican Party. The Supreme Court recently repealed essential water protections for millions of Americans. It will forever be important to maintain environmental victories already gained, but the biggest fights are for the future. And in order to win those fights, the arguments of environmentalists have to shift an...