Bipartisanship? Wassat?!?!

Most students think Democrats are proenvironment and Republicans opposed.

That was not true in the past. Pres Theodore Roosevelt, "Teddy", was one of the biggest environmentalists in US history.

In my Coastal Policy class We study the first big surge of environmental laws in the United States. Everyone is surprised that Republican Richard Nixon and a bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans were responsible for these laws:

"New Years Day, 1970, President Nixon signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Among other things, it required that federal agencies conduct thorough assessments of the environmental impact of all major programs. (This provision, duplicated ultimately at state and local levels across America, remains a cornerstone of environmental law.)" http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/helaw.asp

The first Earth Day was in 1970 as well.

Here are more Nixon laws:

"The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, commonly known as the Clean Water Act. From these laws there evolved a large body of environmental case law. Subsequent federal legislation, notably the Consumer Product Safety Act (1972), the Environmental Pesticide Control Act (1972), the Endangered Species Act (1973), the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) ..." from NRDC web site.

So what's happened? Why do with think of Republicans as being so opposed to environmental action. Stay tuned!