Thread by @mmildenberger

Eliminate the filibuster and a Dem Senate could pass climate reforms if 2020 goes the party's way - but we also need those reforms to be durable. I write about the Republican elephant in the climate politics room for @TPM THREAD 1/
talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/climate-d…

Across the world, right-wing populists have repealed climate change policy after seizing power. The IPCC makes clear we no longer have time for such fits and starts. A climate package in 2021 needs to be durable for a decade or more 2/ theguardian.com/environment/20…

Is blanket Republican opposition to climate policy inevitable? The answer is more complicated than you might expect. At the elite level, there have been moments where Republican voices have supported climate reforms. 3/

And my work shows that there are Republican voters in even the most conservative congressional districts want to see climate action. You can play around with an online tool to explore for yourself! climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations… 4/

Republican elites who push “conservative climate solutions” may be in step with many GOP voters, but they are getting squeezed out of the conversation. Why? A familiar culprit: the fossil fuel industry. 5/

Fossil fuel interests have sown confusion about climate science and distorted our political elites understanding of the public @leahstokes, @awh and I show that congressional offices wrongly believe their constituents don’t support climate reforms 6/

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Climate advocates must fight back against efforts to keep climate denial a part of Republican identity. They can’t let fossil fuel companies define what climate advocacy. Cable news already suggests insidious narratives that climate policy is an extreme, left-wing idea. 7/

Nothing could be more wrong. Climate reforms will protect Americans in blue American and red America. They will keep Republican children safe and Democratic children safe. They will provide immediate economic benefits for communities in every corner of this country. 8/

And so, even if climate reforms don't need Republican votes in the short-term, we’ll still need pro-climate voices to reemerge from the Republican wilderness for reforms to be durable throughout the 2020s. -FIN

talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/climate-d…