Ducks Unlimited on Climate Change and Waterfowl:
Background on climate changeThe issue of global climate change has received much attention in recent years. Most scientists predict that climate change will affect almost every aspect of our environment, including North America’s wetlands and waterfowl. Projections for the next 100 years indicate an acceleration of ongoing impacts, including extensive warming in many areas, shifting patterns of precipitation, sea level rise, changes in the timing and length of the seasons, declining mountain snow packs, and increasing frequency and intensity of severe weather events.
House Republicans fighting the Obama administration’s environmental agenda are finding themselves making decisions that threaten the party’s carefully nourished relationship with the hook and bullet crowd.
Anglers and hunters once courted by President George W. Bush don’t like what they’re seeing in the GOP’s mad dash to cut spending and have made their feelings clear in meetings this month with top aides to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).
As the Republican leaders no doubt know, this is not a crowd to mess with. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation estimates that nearly eight in 10 hunters always vote in presidential elections, while six in 10 go to the polls in off years.
The outdoorsmen typically lean Republican, but Democrats say they could capitalize with a constituency that’s also known to be pretty independent minded.
“That’s a very powerful group,” said Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz. “They bring in a pretty diverse voice. I think you have to be really careful with this because I think the American public, while they want spending cuts, certainly don’t want to decimate the environment for the long run.”
Huh, I had no idea that climate change was on the radar screen for this group of people.
This clip is a great catch!
We’re going to link to this on http://www.ClimateBites.org as — yet another — sample of climate communications excellence from P. Sinclair & Co.
It’s so refreshing to see advocate reaching out to unconvinced audiences via shared values, shared identities, rather than just repeated the same old (failed) approaches.
In this regard, WWF also has been doing some fascinating work with hunters and fishermen, several groups with military experts, some christian groups with evangelicals, etc.
It’s just the way the world works.