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Something that might sound counterintuitive today or surprising.
Danielle Butcher Franz is a conservative climate champion.
That is, she does not align with progressive politics, but believes climate issues need to be taken seriously.
In her 2024 talk, she reminds us that the key to action on this most pressing issue is coalition building and finding ways to engage on policy changes and reforms in good faith with people who might disagree on other fronts.
So I'm curious, and if you'll all indulge me, could I please see a show of hands of how many of you have ever disagreed with your political party of choice?
Okay, so it looks like we are in pretty good company here.
I grew up in the US in a small town in rural northern Minnesota, and my hometown was so small, in fact, that it was a big deal when our population hit 300.
As you can imagine, in a town that small, people spend a lot of time outdoors.
Summers are typically spent in the water, swimming, fishing, and kayaking, and winters are typically spent on the water, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and ice skating.
As for me, I spent a lot of time in the woods hunting with my dad, which is where my passion for the environment was born.
Dad and I agreed early on that conservation was a shared value, we agreed that climate change was happening, and we agreed that something needed to be done about it.
As I got older, however, in terms of politics, my views began to shift away from those of my progressive family, and I found myself aligning a little bit more closely with the Republican Party on issues like abortion, the economy, regulations, and markets.
While these views didn't change my commitment to environmental stewardship or climate change, they did often put me at odds with my progressive family members and left me feeling out of place in environmental circles.
Around the family dinner table, Republicans were often referred to in a derogatory way, and while I love my family, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's ever had to tune out the political rantings of another family member at the dinner table.
Now, in my view, my family dinner table became emblematic of a larger cultural problem that we face.
I often felt that environmentalists were overlooking or outright rejecting the concerns of very important constituencies like farmers, hunters, traditional energy workers, and rural Americans.
They certainly were engaging productively with industry, and it felt that they were quick to point fingers at the right instead of trying to find ways that we could work together.
Now, despite my frustration with the left, I admit my newfound political party had a lot of work to do.
Republicans were increasingly engaging in debating climate science, oftentimes skeptical or outright antagonistic toward climate change, and comments about climate change being a Chinese hoax did very little to encourage constructive dialogue across the aisle.
It was then that it hit me that both the left and right were stalling climate change in their own ways.
On the left, we saw purity tests and an unwillingness to engage with different ideas, and on the right, we saw outright rejection.
And I soon realized that we couldn't leave climate change to one political party alone.
In fact, climate change will not be solved by one political party, one ideology, or one movement.
Between now and 2050, the U .S.
will decide six presidential elections and several more congressional turnovers.
I know other countries will also have their own transitions of power, which means that between now and then, it would be so foolish to assume that one party could retain power through it all and single -handedly solve climate change.
So what does that mean for us?
Well, it means we have to find ways to work together or climate change will continue to be an issue that we face and get worse.
This is what led me in 2017 to co -found the American Conservation Coalition.
We were founded by a group of young Republicans who wanted to see conservatives engaging productively on environmental issues and provide them a platform where they could talk about these issues in a way that didn't betray their dearly held values.
And as it turns out, young Republicans are already on board.
In fact, 81 % of young conservatives believe that the climate is changing and want to see it addressed.
We knew that these young Americans deserve to seat at the table and that their voices could be useful in pushing the party forward on climate change.
we've decided that our work can be most effective in two ways changing the narrative and influencing those who have influence and i want to be clear that changing the narrative is twofold because while many on the left believe that all republicans are climate deniers many on the right also believe that all
climate action is a trojan horse for big government policies that they don't support and don't agree with.
So at ACC, we combat these narratives by publishing op -eds, appearing in media, and amplifying the voices of conservatives who believe these issues are serious and need to be taken seriously.
This helps reframe the way that Republicans view these issues and shows the left that conservatives do care, even if in their own way.
I knew our message was resonating and far -reaching when conservative commentator Bill O 'Reilly invited me on his show to talk about conservative climate solutions, and even noted that he was glad to see us changing hearts and minds.
Now, since our founding, we've appeared in media over 3 ,000 times, reached hundreds of millions across social media, and oftentimes here are talking points echoed by other conservative leaders in the movement.
Politicians like Congressman John Curtis of Utah helped prove that it's possible to be a Republican who cares about climate change.
He recently won his senatorial primary in a landslide, not just as a Republican who talks about climate change, but as a Republican who founded the Conservative Climate Caucus and acts on climate change.
Many conservatives often view climate change as an electoral liability, and Congressman Curtis proves that it can be an asset.
So we work with policymakers like Congressman Curtis to champion an innovative, market -driven approach to climate change.
We advocate for things like fewer regulations and more emphasis on entrepreneurship, knowing that we need all hands on deck to solve this problem.
We think that on the policy front, Republicans actually have a lot to offer.
Things like permitting reform to build cleaner energy projects, things like embracing nuclear energy, and things like exporting clean American energy to our friends and allies around the world will not only help reduce global carbon emissions, but also grow the U .S.
economy. To the surprise of many, we're not alone in this work.
And I'm proud to report that ACC now has over 60 ,000 members across the country who are young conservatives that want to see action on this issue.
And we also work with a broad coalition of eco -right groups such as Deploy U .S., ClearPath, and the Conservative Energy Network.
Internationally, we're proud to work with organizations in the U .K., Canada, and Australia who are doing similar work in their respective countries.
While conservatives and progressives may not always agree on the best ways to address climate change, we can find common ground in our shared commitment to the environment.
And while there's still work to be done, there are Republicans who want to come to the table and engage on climate in good faith.
All we're asking, and all that I'm asking, is that you meet us there.
Thank you. That was Danielle Butcher -Franz at TED Countdown's Dilemma event in Brussels.
If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at ted .com slash curationguidelines.
And that's it for today.
TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective.
This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Autumn Thompson, and Alejandra Salazar.
It was mixed by Christopher Faze -Bogan.
Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo.
I'm Elise Hugh. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feet.
Thanks for listening.
