In the news
Bright Blue’s polling report Green conservatives? was referenced in an article written by the WWF’s Tony Juniper, for the Ecologist.
In the article, Tony says how the findings of our polling “help explain the subsequent very welcome rise in profile of environmental issues in politics, laying the foundations for stronger cross-party consensus.”
Read the full article here.
Our Researcher, Eamonn Ives, was interviewed by A greener life, a greener world to discuss conservatism and environmentalism. Eamonn begins by arguing that conservative thinkers and politicians have long shown natural environmental credentials. He then makes the case that other principles, such as belief in free markets, are the best way to approach interacting with the environment, as they most effectively capture what type of world people really want to live in.
Here’s an excerpt:
The standard of environmentalism cannot, and should not, be pristine wilderness – a state of nature-esque affair. This would be a horrible and unenjoyable situation, and holding up the environment to that level is borderline dangerous. Inevitably, as humans, we impact our environment. In order to survive, we have to turn grasslands into productive farms, chop down forests for building material, and, occasionally, concrete over green spaces. The question, therefore, should be about how best we do that, and, as I’ve said before, I think that is through the efficiency which capitalism invariably provides.
Read the full interview here.
