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Presidential Environmental Ideologies - Coggle Diagram
Presidential Environmental Ideologies
Ronald Reagan
First openly anti-environment agenda
Cut spending for several environmental programs
Appointed several anti-environmental officials that furthered his agenda
George H.W Bush
Initially shocked democrats by appointing pro-environment officials
Pursued a bipartisan strategy
Moved back to a traditional republican stance on the environment for his reelection campaign
George W. Bush
Gained a large increase in federal power after 9/11
His first budget proposal involved an 8% decrease in spending for natural resource and environmental programs - over 500 million dollar decrease for agencies like the EPA - this did not go through
Clinton
Clinton's administration gave people high hopes for environmental policy
Several pro-environment appointments - though some changed their tune and switched to a more anti-environment agenda
Passed a few bipartisan acts including the clean water act
Suggested a federal gas tax of 4.3 cents per gallon which caused anger from both political parties
Barack Obama
Extremely pro-environment
Was a major contributor to the Paris Climate Agreement and signed several pro-environment acts into law including a greenhouse gas emissions cap and trade
When partisanship made it basically impossible to pass environmental legislation, he said he would continue to act for the environment with or without congress
Trump
Most anti-environment president since Reagan
Reversed almost every Obama policy and paused new legislation from being passed
Claims misinformation about the environment, such as calling climate change a hoax and saying that environmental regulations are "job killers"
Basis of his platform is making America the number one energy producer in coal, oil, gas, etc
Government officials base their actions off level of saliency for constituents
If citizens have awareness and mild concern about an issue, officials are not likely to take action. If citizens rank it as a high priority (important), action is more likely to be taken
Based on the hierarchy of needs, people tend to rank environmental health as a more pressing issue during a time of economic growth
During a recession, environmental health is considered to be a luxury
The divide among democrats and republicans is greatest among environmental issues - this explains the major differences in Presidential actions regarding the environment
There are several factors that affect a demographic's opinion on the environment
Younger people tend to be more concerned for the environment - As people age, their priorities and values change
Non-white Americans tend to be more concerned for the environment - They are most at risk for environmental issues
Women tend to be more concerned for the environment than men - based on traditional gender roles, women are generally more caring and nurturing
Level of education, when combined with other factors, impacts people's opinions on the environment
Level of education alone does not have a direct correlation to higher or lower level of concern for the environment - Other factors such as worldview, partisanship, and ideology have a major influence
Higher levels of education on the environment is more common among democrats than republicans
The media has both a positive and negative influence on concern for the environment
Positives: Further spread of information, easy access to current events and info, increased research opportunities
Negatives: Misinformation, not always peer reviewed, discourages people from doing independent research to form an educated opinion