Democrats should heed RFK Jr’s call for a more spiritual approach to the environment
There’s not a lot that Robert F Kennedy, Jr., is getting right at the moment. Not only is the former presidential candidate asking the Supreme Court to keep his name on the ballot, the federal government is investigating him for allegedly driving a dead whale’s head across state lines. Not a great look for Kennedy — or for Donald J. Trump, whom Kennedy endorsed for president — though it’s hardly surprising given his recent and equally newsworthy experiences with bears and bikes, brain worms and more. Kennedy has a knack for the outlandish.
Kennedy did get one thing right recently, however. It was his comment in an interview with Tucker Carlson on how the Democratic Party’s environmental approach has commodified everything, distilling nature down to a numeric value, and that their carbon quantification focus was the wrong one. In contrast, the reason to protect the environment, according to Kennedy, is because there’s a spiritual connection to it, because it connects us to generations past, and because we love our children.
In sum, use less quantitative reasoning, and more qualitative. Kennedy suggests that “God talks to humans through many vectors,” but nowhere with the kind of “detail and texture and grace and joy as through creation, and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine, understand who God is and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.” Carlson enthusiastically supports this assessment, as well as the overall idea that God talks to us through the birds, fish, leaves and wildlife and that is why we preserve nature.
Kennedy isn’t wrong on this front. The environmental movement has, of late, largely doubled down on the carbon quantification framing and has lost some of the love and spiritual connection that once guided it. And since the Republicans’ environmental track record has often centered around concepts like clean air and clean water, the need to conserve and protect, and the religious duty to care for and steward what the creator provided, one can assume that is why Kennedy chose to back Trump. It most aligned with Kennedy’s comments above.
Yet, despite a historical Republican approach that was more conservationist and religionist in nature, that’s now being ditched for something far different going forward. Project 2025 and the Supreme Court’s recent Chevron ruling illustrate clearly how nature will get an areligious pummeling by Republican Party politicos and appointed judges — a far cry from the Roosevelt Republicanism that helped drive the conservation movement under President Theodore Roosevelt.
Democrats would do well, then, to heed Kennedy’s comments and balance all of that carbon accounting with some spiritual connection, creation care and love for the divine. Especially if they want to pick up independent voters, undecided voters or voters who didn’t follow Kennedy when he endorsed Trump.
That doesn’t mean Democrats need to drop the carbon focus. It just means that Democrats and their environmental backers can lead with more emotion to balance the carbon math, more spiritual connection to balance the carbon accounting and more divination to balance the decarbonization.
Instead of leading with carbon neutral this and net zero that, Democrats can lead with a vision of something more relational and inspirational. Instead of leading with embodied carbon this and sequestered that, Democrats can tell stories that convey and capture wonder, not data. Instead of leading with numerical carbon targets and timelines, Democrats can talk about nature in ways that actually connect with Americans.
All of this is possible, and Kennedy is not off the mark to mention it; voters want it. And while no party should lay claim to environmentalism — as the clean-up job is too big for one party to be the primary planet protector — Democrats and their environmental backers could take a lesson or two from Kennedy’s carbon critique and lean into the divine. Because it may just be that which will move the masses.
Michael Shank, PhD, is adjunct faculty at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and a visiting scholar at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.
Date: |
Topics
-
The Guardian - World
The real victims of Olivia Nuzzi’s affair with RFK Jr are other female journalists | Moira Donegan
This fling may have been consensual – but let’s spare a thought for all the other women in media tainted by unfair association. Anyone who is not a moralist or kidding themselves will admit that a ...9 hours ago -
CBS News - Top stories
Supreme Court denies RFK Jr.'s bid to be reinstated on New York ballot
Despite suspending his campaign, the independent presidential candidate was fighting to have his name restored to the state's ballot.7 minutes ago - New York -
The Hill - Politics
Most Democrats stop short of calling on New York mayor to resign
New York Democrats for the most part on Thursday stopped short of calling for the resignation of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, characterizing his federal indictment on bribery charges as a ...21 hours ago - New York -
The Hill - Politics
Democrats call for DOJ intervention in Boar's Head listeria outbreak
Two Democrats are urging the Department of Justice to get involved with the fallout of a nationwide listeria outbreak linked to a Boar’s Head plant. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Rosa ...2 hours ago -
MarketWatch - Business
Wall Street grows more optimistic about Tesla sales. Should you?
China sales are likely to be the highlight of Tesla’s upcoming deliveries data.9 hours ago - Tesla -
The Hill - Politics
Nevada Democrats add to calls for Biden to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles
The Democratic delegation of Nevada lawmakers in Congress is calling on President Biden to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S.-provided, long-range weapons to strike beyond Russia's border, ...22 hours ago - Joe Biden -
The Hill - Politics
Warner calls on Biden administration to do more to fight election misinformation
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) is pushing the federal government to boost assistance to state and local governments to help them identify and prevent the spread of ...1 hour ago - Joe Biden -
NBC News - Top stories
Top Democrat urges Biden admin to do more to help local election officials fight disinformation
A top Democrat wants the federal cybersecurity agency CISA to ramp up help for state and local election officials facing an onslaught of disinformation.6 hours ago - Joe Biden
More from The Hill
-
The Hill - Politics
Super Commuting is on the rise in the US
Despite a substantial amount of evidence that proves hybrid work benefits both employees and employers, and employees who work in a hybrid capacity are just as productive as those who work ...1 hour ago -
The Hill - Politics
Biden gives emotional eulogy in Scranton at funeral for childhood friend
SCRANTON, Pa. — President Biden made a trip to his hometown of Scranton on Friday to give an emotional eulogy at the funeral of his best childhood friend. The president returned to the Catholic ...1 hour ago - Joe Biden -
The Hill - Politics
On immigration, Harris needs to broker a border deal and revive bipartisan consensus
Vice President Harris has proposed a plan to streamline legal immigration and address the border crisis, while the Trump campaign and MAGA allies have proposed over 200 proposals to choke off ...1 hour ago -
The Hill - Politics
Warner calls on Biden administration to do more to fight election misinformation
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) is pushing the federal government to boost assistance to state and local governments to help them identify and prevent the spread of ...1 hour ago - Joe Biden -
The Hill - Politics
Harris leading Trump in key Nebraska district: Survey
Vice President Harris is leading former President Trump in a key district in Nebraska, a new poll found. The CNN survey, conducted by SSRS, found that 53 percent of voters in the Cornhusker State's ...1 hour ago - Donald Trump