Climate Change. Global Warming. Sustainability. Environmentalism. These divisive partisan issues form the foundation of a constant debate between conservative and liberal forces. Congressmen and congresswomen on both sides of the aisle carefully select language that resonates with key demographics. While the millennial generation hasn’t been a huge factor in politics in the past, many of these voters make up a large portion of the up-and-coming "rising electorate," the given name to a voting demographic that is comprised of millennials (voters age 18-30), unmarried women and certain minorities (Latin Americans and blacks). The U.S. census shows this group will encompass nearly half of the voting population in the coming elections. As political capital and influence shifts toward the rising electorate, there are important questions about its implications for key environmental issues.
Recently, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication polled the likelihood of certain demographic groups to vote for a political candidate who "strongly supports taking action to reduce Global Warming." The study found, in April 2014, that the rising electorate polled 51 percent more likely and 12 percent less likely. The rest of the voting population responded with a more negative perspective, showing 39 percent more likely to 21 percent less likely. To many, this statistic is hardly surprising. However, in February, the Pew Research Center studied a different question with the same rising demographics. They found that 32 percent of millennials, compared to 42 percent of Generation X, identify with the term "environmentalist."
In the 2012 election, according to a study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Virginia depended on the youth vote. Eighty electoral votes hung in the balance, a difference roughly equivalent to the difference between the percentage of millennials who call themselves environmentalists and the percentage of the rest of the population that does.
Beyond the surface, this data explains the importance of cohesive language and narrative in social movements, heralding the demise of "green" initiatives whose public campaigns are stories that preach a 1962 Silent Spring environmentalism to a 21st century generation.
The efforts of environmental movements throughout the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries have had a remarkable impact on causes we absolutely cannot afford to forget. However, the language and narrative of these organizations struggles to appeal to the rising electorate. Ultimately, sustainability must reclaim its story. It must rewrite that story for a generation that is passionately concerned about numerous issues and dedicated to creating a better world not just environmentally but economically and socially as well.
Stephen Paolini is a UF sustainability studies freshman.
[The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the Alligator.]
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 12/7/2014]
