{"id":2695838,"date":"2026-11-02T15:37:44","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-conservatives-go-green\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T15:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:47:22","slug":"can-conservatives-go-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-conservatives-go-green\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Conservatives Go Green?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">8<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcan-conservatives-go-green%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2695838&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Clare Ath loved the outdoors from a young age. After a summer guiding backpacking trips in Colorado during college, she noticed that outdoor culture tended to be secular and politically progressive, which made her wonder where someone like her &#8211; a conservative Catholic who values nature &#8211; fit in. Ten years later she co-founded Vita Et Terra,a nonprofit aligned with an emerging conservative environmental movement that sees people as part of the solution rather than the problem.<\/p>\n<p>That message is finding an audience among young conservatives who care about the environment but reject left\u2011wing messaging.Danielle Franz, a conservative and CEO of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), says ACC has grown by positioning itself as a different kind of environmental movement focused on mobilizing college students and young professionals. Franz argues that environmental stewardship fits naturally with conservative principles &#8211; a duty to care for what has been entrusted to us.<\/p>\n<p>Franz often emphasizes motherhood and outdoor life in her public presence and credits her upbringing for steering her toward autonomous thinking and,eventually,the political right.That viewpoint informs her advocacy for an approach to ecology rooted in family and stewardship; for example,she pushed back in an op\u2011ed against people who avoid or delay having children out of climate fears.<\/p>\n<p>Some mainstream environmental voices, by contrast, have entertained population\u2011reduction ideas as a response to environmental harm. Academic work and certain public figures have suggested slowing or reversing population growth and expanding access to reproductive services and education as a path to lower overall resource use. Critics of that line of thinking point to a broader drop in U.S. fertility &#8211; rates are below the level needed to maintain the current population &#8211; as part of the debate about demographics and policy.<\/p>\n<p>Conservative environmentalists frame their approach differently. Thay favor \u201cstewardship\u201d &#8211; caring for the environment to enhance its productivity, beauty, and safety for people and future generations &#8211; rather than preservation that seeks to remove humans from parts of nature. E. Calvin Beisner, founder of the Cornwall alliance, contrasts conservation (managing natural resources for human benefit) with a preservationist ethic that aims to exclude human use; he and like\u2011minded conservatives advocate for tradeoffs and pragmatic, human\u2011centered solutions.<\/p>\n<p>ACC\u2019s strategy reflects that split into two main strands: conservation and energy. They promote active land and forest management on the conservation side and back technology and policy for reliable, cleaner energy &#8211; including nuclear &#8211; on the energy side. That blend of priorities has gained traction in Republican circles: ACC helped found the Conservative Climate Caucus,has hosted events such as the \u201cEnergy Freedom Tour\u201d with prominent officials,and has engaged with executive and legislative initiatives relating to public lands and conservation.<\/p>\n<p>franz hopes to depoliticize climate issues over time and to replace what she calls \u201cdoom and gloom\u201d with optimism about solvable problems and conservative solutions. Ath\u2019s Vita Et Terra runs messaging to counter the idea that having children is incompatible with protecting the environment, arguing instead that human life is a gift and that policies should make the planet safer and more hospitable for families. both Ath and Franz say conservatives &#8211; especially pro\u2011life people and parents &#8211; have strong reasons to be engaged in environmental stewardship for the sake of future generations.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-blog-post__content s-wysiwyg s-wysiwyg--blog\">\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:30px;\" id=\"elevenlabs-audionative-widget\" data-height=\"90\" data-width=\"100%\" data-frameborder=\"no\" data-scrolling=\"no\" data-publicuserid=\"cb0d9922301244fcc1aeafd0610a8e90a36a320754121ee126557a7416405662\" data-playerurl=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/player\/index.html\" >Loading the <a href=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/text-to-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elevenlabs Text to Speech<\/a> AudioNative Player&#8230;<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/player\/audioNativeHelper.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>                            <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">Clare Ath always loved the outdoors. The summer after her freshman year of college, she got a job as a backpacking guide in Colorado, planning and leading camping trips in the Rocky Mountains. Ath noticed that the people she encountered in that environment tended to be secular and politically progressive. The experience made her wonder if there was a place for people like herself, a conservative Catholic who was passionate about the outdoors. Now, a decade later, this mother of four is cofounder of the new nonprofit Vita Et Terra, which is part of a growing conservative environmental movement that sees more humans as a solution, not a problem. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That message is resonating with young conservatives who don\u2019t connect with left-wing environmental messaging but still care about the planet. Danielle Franz, a self-identified conservative and CEO of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), which has over 100,000 members across the country, says her organization has succeeded by branding itself as \u201ca new kind of environmental movement\u201d aimed at mobilizing college students and young professionals on environmental issues. Franz sees environmental stewardship as logical for conservatives to pursue. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s important for conservatives to be active in conservation because it is such a natural extension of our worldview,\u201d Franz told me in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s this sort of underlying stewardship ethic that conservatives have that says we have a responsibility to the things that are entrusted to our care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                         <!-- \/22404337467,3946880\/theamericanconservative-Leaderboard-Top -->                         <\/p>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1742316429780-0' style='min-width: 300px; min-height: 50px; max-width: 100%; '>                         <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Franz writes frequently about the blessings of motherhood and outdoor living in America. Her social media is peppered with photos of her young son running around outdoors, sporting jumpsuits with American flags and tiny Birkenstock clogs. And although she was raised in a progressive family, Franz says her commitment to independent thought\u2014and her dad\u2019s encouragement of the same\u2014eventually led her to the political right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This background makes her a particularly effective advocate for an approach to ecological stewardship that reflects conservative values. In September, Franz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/why-i-dont-worry-about-my-kids-carbon-footprint\">published an op-ed<\/a> titled \u201cWhy I Don\u2019t Worry About My Kid\u2019s Carbon Footprint,\u201d pushing back against the small but vocal group of people who are choosing not to have children because of their fears about ecological catastrophe (or even\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2026\/jan\/11\/abortion-climate-anxiety-ask-annalisa-barbieri\">in at least one extreme case<\/a>\u2014terminating pregnancies out of climate anxiety). <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mainstream environmentalist crowd has appeared to embrace much of this anti-human, anti-family ideology. A <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/sd.71358\">recent article<\/a> published in the journal <em>Sustainable Development<\/em> observed that \u201cthe past century of massive increases in human population and resource use has seen many undesirable environmental effects.\u201d The solution to this problem? \u201cSlowing and gradually reversing population growth\u201d to achieve a global population of 4 billion by the year 2200. (The authors euphemistically suggest that this could be accomplished by \u201cfulfilling women\u2019s and couples\u2019 unmet needs for reproductive health services and by improving girls\u2019 education opportunities.\u201d) <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea that birth control and abortion are the best ways to combat climate change isn\u2019t confined to the fringe of the environmentalist movement. The late feminist activist Gloria Steinem said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.refinery29.com\/en-us\/2017\/05\/153643\/gloria-steinem-exclusive-interview-create-cultivate-conference\">2017 interview<\/a> that \u201csystematically forcing women to have children they don\u2019t want or can\u2019t care for\u201d is \u201cthe fundamental cause of climate change.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether it is a response to climate change or not, it is true that Americans are having fewer children. A recent report from the <a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/report-brief\/the-demographic-dead-end-2026-state-of-fertility-report\">Institute for Family Studies<\/a> showed that the total fertility rate in the U.S. has dropped below 1.6 children per adult woman\u2014much lower than the rate of 2.1 needed to maintain our current population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such a focus on whittling down the population is at odds with the conservative vision of human flourishing. Compare left-wing environmental messaging with what comes from groups like ACC and Vita Et Terra, and the difference is stark. You\u2019re much more likely to encounter a word like \u201cstewardship\u201d coming from the latter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The notion of stewardship also came up in a conversation I had with E. Calvin Beisner, another conservative conservationist. As he told me: <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We can\u2019t really preserve nature. We only preserve whatever state we find it in\u2026 Stewardship, I think, is the best term, because what it means is that we\u2019re acting as God\u2019s representatives to enhance the fruitfulness, the beauty, and the safety of the earth to the glory of God and the benefit of our neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beisner founded the Cornwall Alliance in 2005 as a network of Christian scholars engaged in research, education, and advocacy on the topics of environmental stewardship and economic development. Today, the group\u2019s outreach primarily takes place at homeschool and worldview conferences across the country, where Beisner and his team seek to educate students and their families on the biblical ethics of creation care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beisner explained that there are two primary approaches to environmental policy: conservation and preservation. The former, which focuses on protecting areas and <em>conserving<\/em> them for human use and enjoyment, was gradually displaced by the latter, which seeks to completely separate parts of nature from human interaction. Beisner considers this approach flawed. Conservative environmentalists are much more likely to align with Beisner and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2026\/08\/27\/data-centers-superfund-sites-could-be-match-made-heaven\/\">consider tradeoffs<\/a> and nuanced solutions than their left-wing counterparts. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is similar to how Franz described ACC\u2019s approach, which basically involves two interconnected lines of effort: promoting environmental stewardship and championing energy development. \u201cWe tend to think of policy in different buckets. We have our conservation bucket, and we have our energy bucket, and there\u2019s a lot of things that flow from those buckets,\u201d she said. As an example, promoting technology to produce clean nuclear energy comes from the energy bucket, while active forest management belongs in the conservation bucket.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The influence of these sorts of groups appears to be growing on the right, with ACC in particular finding a niche for itself within Republican circles. In 2021, the organization joined forces with Sen. John Curtis (R-UT), at the time a U.S. representative, to found the Conservative Climate Caucus, which aimed to educate GOP lawmakers on conservative approaches to environmental policy. Earlier this year, Energy Secretary Chris Wright took part in ACC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/acc.eco\/energy-freedom-tour\/\">Energy Freedom Tour<\/a>\u2014intended to tout \u201creliable, affordable, and clean American energy\u201d to college students\u2014alongside Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. And according to Franz, the group has also helped with other executive and legislative efforts: \u201cWe\u2019ve been very involved with the President\u2019s Make America Beautiful Again executive order, the Great American Outdoors Act, all those types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"c-subscribe-email\" >\n<div class=\"l-container\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__wrap\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__head\">\n<h4 class=\"c-subscribe-email__heading\">Subscribe Today<\/h4>\n<h5 class=\"c-subscribe-email__subheading\">Get daily emails in your inbox<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__form-wrap\">      <!-- Begin Mailchimp Signup Form -->      <\/p>\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup\">\n<form id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" class=\"validate\" action=\"https:\/\/theamericanconservative.us4.list-manage.com\/subscribe\/post?u=442e644c01f8e54e26e4ff3f8&#038;id=f7b67cac40\" method=\"post\" name=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" novalidate target=\"_blank\">\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup_scroll\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__fields\">              <label for=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"u-screenreader-text\">Email Address:<\/label>              <input id=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"c-subscribe-email__field\" name=\"EMAIL\" type=\"email\" value=\"\" placeholder=\"Your Email\" \/>              <input id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe\" class=\"c-subscribe-email__submit o-button o-button--red-500 o-button--solid\" name=\"subscribe\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Subscribe\" \/>            <\/div>\n<div id=\"mce-responses\" class=\"clear\">\n<div id=\"mce-error-response\" class=\"response\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mce-success-response\" class=\"response\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>              <!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups-->            <\/p>\n<div class=\"u-screenreader-text\" aria-hidden=\"true\">              <input tabindex=\"-1\" name=\"b_442e644c01f8e54e26e4ff3f8_f7b67cac40\" type=\"text\" value=\"\" \/>            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>      <!--End mc_embed_signup-->          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although much of ACC\u2019s advocacy is tied to politics, Franz hopes to eventually see the climate issue become less polarized. She also hopes to see conservatives put forward a message of optimism that contrasts with the \u201cdoom and gloom\u201d of the mainstream climate change narrative. \u201cYes, there are environmental problems,\u201d she concedes, \u201cbut we know how to solve them or we can figure out how to solve them.\u201d And if the right can \u201clead with the solutions,\u201d Franz believes, it may find that the environmental issue \u201cis actually an opportunity to grow the conservative movement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over at Vita Et Terra, Ath has launched an extensive messaging campaign to combat the idea that having babies and protecting the environment are at odds. The message she hopes to convey is that human life is not a problem to be solved, but a gift to be protected. Environmental policies that treat the human population as a threat to nature are out. Environmental policies that make the earth a cleaner, safer, better place for people to live are in. \u201cWe inherit the Earth first from God and then from our ancestors,\u201d Ath wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.churchpop.com\/reclaim-environment-catholic-3-principles\/\">one op-ed<\/a>. \u201cIt is our obligation, then, to hold the Earth in trust for our children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ath believes that conservatives should be eager to talk about environmental policy and the impact it can have on future generations. Because, as she told me, \u201cThere\u2019s no one who should care more about the earth than pro-life people and parents and families.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Conservative approaches to the environment are growing, with people like Clare Ath shaping a movement that sees humans as part of the solution rather than the problem. After college, Ath worked as a Colorado backpacking guide and noticed outdoors crowds tended to be secular and progressive, which made her wonder if a conservative Catholic who loves nature could fit in. A decade later, she co-founded Vita Et Terra, a nonprofit aligned with a broader conservative environmental trend that emphasizes human flourishing as part of ecological care.<\/p>\n<p>Danielle Franz, a conservative and head of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), says her group is a \u201cnew kind of environmental movement\u201d aimed at mobilizing students and young professionals. She argues that conservation makes sense for conservatives because of a built\u2011in stewardship ethic that obligates us to care for what we\u2019re entrusted with. Franz, who often shares photos of motherhood and outdoor life, grew up in a progressive family but was guided toward the right by her commitment to independent thinking and her father\u2019s support. This background helps her advocate for an ecological stewardship approach that aligns with conservative values. She even wrote an op\u2011ed criticizing worries about her child\u2019s carbon footprint, pushing back against climate\u2011alarmism that discourages having children.<\/p>\n<p>Mainstream environmentalism, by contrast, has at times embraced anti\u2011human ideas. Some scholars have suggested slowing or reversing world population growth as a climate fix, even proposing a global population target of about 4 billion by 2200 through reproductive health and education. Feminist Gloria Steinem has also linked reproductive choices to climate outcomes. Meanwhile, fertility in the United States is falling, with fertility rates dipping below replacement levels, a trend that clashes with conservative aims of human flourishing. This contrast highlights the difference between left\u2011leaning environmental messaging and the stewardship\u2011driven framing favored by ACC and Vita Et Terra.<\/p>\n<p>Conservative conservationist E. Calvin Beisner emphasizes stewardship over preservation in a theological register: nature can be preserved only as we act as God\u2019s representatives to improve its fruitfulness, beauty, and safety for the good of neighbors. Beisner founded the Cornwall Alliance to educate on creation care from a Christian perspective, often at homeschool and worldview gatherings. He distinguishes two policy paths-conservation (protecting areas for human use) and preservation (removing humans from nature)-and argues the latter is flawed. Conservatives, Beisner suggests, are more inclined to seek nuanced tradeoffs and solutions than their liberal counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>ACC mirrors this dual approach, talking about conservation and energy as two interconnected policy streams. Measures that promote clean, advanced energy-like nuclear power-fit the energy bucket, while active forest management belongs in conservation. The group\u2019s influence on the right has been growing: it helped launch the Conservative Climate Caucus with Sen. John Curtis, has collaborated with Energy Secretary Chris Wright on outreach to students, and has supported initiatives like Make America Beautiful Again and the Great American Outdoors Act.<\/p>\n<p>Franz hopes the climate conversation can become less polarized and more hopeful, urging conservatives to lead with practical solutions rather than doom\u2011and\u2011gloom. Vita Et Terra\u2019s Ath argues that human life is a gift to be protected, not a problem to be solved, and that environmental policies should reward healthier, safer living for people. For Ath, protectors of life-parents, families, and the unborn-should be at the forefront of caring for the Earth, because stewardship begins with the people who will inherit it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4460,"featured_media":2695839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/tac.imgix.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/environmentalism.jpg?auto=compress&#038;crop=faces%2Centropy&#038;fit=crop&#038;fm=jpg&#038;h=630&#038;ixlib=php-3.3.1&#038;q=80&#038;w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548,33651],"tags":[13784,4539,53793,87408],"class_list":["post-2695838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily","category-the-western-journal","tag-climate-change","tag-conservatives","tag-environment-2","tag-green-energy-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/tac.imgix.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/environmentalism.jpg?auto=compress&#038;crop=faces%2Centropy&#038;fit=crop&#038;fm=jpg&#038;h=630&#038;ixlib=php-3.3.1&#038;q=80&#038;w=1200","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2695838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4460"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2695838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2695838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2695867,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2695838\/revisions\/2695867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2695839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2695838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2695838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2695838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}