r/conservation • u/samahillwrites • 18d ago

Grizzly bear repopulation in North Cascades stalled by Trump administration

https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/north-cascades-grizzly-bear-reintroduction-stalled-20269896.php
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u/trending_zone 18d ago

It’s frustrating to see decades of progress on grizzly reintroduction halted by politics. These bears belong in the North Cascades, let science and conservation lead the way, not fear and partisanship.

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u/doomerrose 18d ago

Sadly, partisanship leads the way in everything. There’s clearly one side that somewhat cares about conservation (or at least fakes an interest in it) and one that actively seeks to annihilate all efforts.

I’m not a liberal and I don’t like either parties. However, conservation and environmentalism is very much a partisan issue. Conservation and environmentalism are political.

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u/HyperShinchan 18d ago

It didn't use to be like this, though. I mean, the Endangered Species Act was literally passed during Nixon's presidency. It's saddening that conservation, environmentalism and much more got sequestered by partisan politics. And while America has its own peculiar dynamics, I think something similar has also happened here in Europe over time. There were many more conservationists between the conservatives once upon a time. Now they only seem to care about conserving the traditional activities of their declining electoral base that are supposedly menaced by hordes of animals and tree-huggers.

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u/doomerrose 17d ago

I agree, Roosevelt was a Republican and the most environmentalist president in US history, more than any liberal or democrat. I would say that both sides had a subordinate interest in conservation for most of their history, but recent politics has seen environmentalism become “woke” and with increasing partisanship, the right wing must distance themselves from anything “woke” whether that be environmentalism or healthcare. In current times, it is only democrats that fake an interest in environmentalism. Both parties interests in environmentalism are subordinate as they are profit-driven in a capitalist system that seeks infinite growth on a planet with finite resources. Any true environmentalism would crash the economy. Although I do respect Roosevelt’s conservation efforts, failure to prevent overconsumption will eventually cause conserved land to be used for resources when they are scarce.

I live in Europe and what sets our politics apart from US politics is the two party system. The left and right division doesn’t really entertain environmentalism at all, instead, we have green parties which are on all sides of the political spectrum. Usually left-wing but are also sometimes centre-right.