When people think of hunting and fishing politicians in America — at least prominent ones – two things spring to mind: 1. Republican and 2. Climate change skeptic. Former President George W. Bush, his vice president Dick Cheney and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin all fall into both categories.
But the hunting and fishing crowd — widely seen as reliably Republican because of that’s party’s successful portrayal of itself as the defender of God and guns — has also started to take note of climate change. After all, hunters and anglers are in the outdoors in pursuit of wildlife season after season, year after year.
But what may concern some Republican strategists is that many of them also accept the science of climate change, which overwhelmingly points to fossil fuel emissions as the main cause driving global warming.
This may help explain why Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina broke ranks with his party to outline a compromise to limit carbon emissions in a Sunday New York Times opinion piece he co-wrote with Democratic Senator John Kerry. Hunters and anglers in the U.S. South are widely seen as part of the Republican base and his call for action was saluted on Wednesday during a teleconference call hosted by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) and involved other outdoor groups.
“I have observed things in my life time that suggest that significant impacts have already been felt here in our state,” said Clinch Heyward, the 60-year-old chairman of the SCWF.
He noted that in a life time of duck hunting he had noticed a decline in the state’s duck population while Virginia, where one of his sons now lives, had more and more ducks.
“I was deer hunting last weekend and here it is October and it is 90 degrees (about 32 Celsius),” he said in his thick southern accent.
The SCWF said in a statement that: “Sportsmen are calling for passage of comprehensive climate and energy legislation“.
Such legislation is currently being considered in the U.S. Senate and is one of President Barack Obama’s top domestic priorities.
The shooting and fishing crowd is not always seen as a natural ally of the bunny and tree-hugging crowd. Do you see at least some of them uniting on this issue? And what might the political implications for the Republican Party be?
(PHOTO: A young hunter takes aim at the Cabela’s store in Fort Worth, Texas June 26, 2008. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi (UNITED STATES)
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I do not think we have even begun to address the change that the population has effected on the earth. We see only our country, but other countries have a large increase in population and the forest is still being cut in many countries. I predict that we will see less people on the earth due to sickness and food shortages. I also believe that we can run our cars without gasoline or diesel and we can also run our power plants without coal or natural gas.
- Posted by f belzLindsey Graham is a brilliant climate change scientist, but he forgot to examine the effects of sunspots on climate. Now that we’re out of another sunspot cycle, let’s see what happens to temperatures. Oh… and, by the way, Lindsey Graham may be positioning himself as a moderate to run for president (or he’s just stupid). Just ask the other brilliant climate change scientist John McCain, who also positioned himself as a climate change believer shortly before running for president. Fortunately, the American public won’t be buying another cap-and-tax pseudo-conservative. In fact, it might be time for a Libertarian.
- Posted by BenI have been a hunter all my life, I have yet to hunt on a glacier, so I’ll just trust the scientists. Kind of like when I broke my arm, I went to a Doctor not an Anthropologist.
- Posted by James Reginald Harris, JrAs a landowner and a non-hunting conservationist I do not put much stock in the opinion of “sportsmen”. All I see from them is poaching and a disregard for property rights. Climate change is real, ask the wildlife.
- Posted by DougMany hunters/anglers in SC are noticing the effects of global warming. The National Audubon Society’s senior scientists analyzed 40 years of Christmas Bird Count data and found that 58% of the 305 species that winter in the US have shifted signigficantly north and inland. This does not bode well for birds that use marshes, tundra, prairies. Audubon connects this shift to global warming from manmade causes. When food sources shift north and inland and there is an aberrant colder than usual winter, food sources are affected and birds decline. The American Black Duck is wintering 182 miles further north and inland, while the Common Merganser is wintering 106 miles further north and inland and the Northern Pintail, 91 miles. Another game species, the Northern Bobwhite (Quail) is wintering 85 miles further north and inland.
- Posted by Ann SHahidAnn Shahid
Important Bird Area Coordinator
Climate and Energy Outreach Coordinator
Audubon SC
There IS a Clinch Heyward who does something, whatever, parades around in hunting gear I suppose, for the SCWF. But given that Reuters just got punked over a fake press release regarding climate change and the US Chamber of Commerce, I had to assume that a heavily-accented “Clinch Heyward” was fake too. But I just called the SCWL and talked to some fast-talker with Lowcountry accent named “Steve.” (steve @ scwf.org)
He, Steve of the SCWF, said he DID indeed work for rich-pants Clinch, who likely works hard shooting things mostly. I imagine they at the SCWF trot out old Duncan Clinch Heyward to give Reuters boy reporters a good show. Then they stick him back out in the swamp and let him blast away into air.
- Posted by Grayson Daughters