Getting to Green: Saving Nature: A Bipartisan Solution

“The problem is that the toxic politics around environment has caused the movement to be stalled.”

Frederic Rich is a renowned conservation activist and lawyer who says that the divisive and toxic nature of our bipartisan political system has led to a situation where no comprehensive environmental protection legislation has been passed in decades.  “The problem is that the toxic politics around environment has caused the movement to be stalled.”

In his new book Getting to Green: Saving Nature: A Bipartisan Solution, Rich says that there has been a recent trend of not even talking about environmental issues among presidential candidates.  “No reporter asked a climate change question in any primary or general election presidential debate in 2012.  This time around Senator Clinton and Senator Sanders have been talking about it but unfortunately the Republican candidates have been saying what the folks on the far right want to hear which is “it’s not a problem.””

Rich says the premise of his book is that continuing to deny climate change is no longer a political option.  “This idea of denying the problem is a complete aberration. What we’ve had historically and the only way we make progress is when the right and left admit that we have a problem and then engage vigorously in a debate about what the solutions should be.”

Rich proposes an alternative, a “Center Green” road map for progress, including what it would require in relation to issues such as Keystone pipeline, Arctic drilling, and fracking.

Frederic Rich will speak about Getting to Green: Saving Nature: A Bipartisan Solution at 7pm on Wednesday April 27th at the Tattered Cover in Denver, LoDo branch.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download