"A Harvard academic has put the blame squarely for America's failure to act on climate change on environmental groups. She also argues that there is little prospect Barack Obama will put climate change on the top of his agenda in his second term."
"In a research paper, due to be presented at a Harvard forum next month, scholar Theda Skocpol in effect accuses the DC-based environmental groups of political malpractice, saying they were blind to extreme Republican opposition to their efforts.
Environmental groups overlooked growing opposition to environmental protections among conservatives voters and, underestimated the rising force of the Tea Party, believing – wrongly, as it turned out – they could still somehow win over Republican members of Congress through 'insider grand bargaining'. ...
Skocpol, meanwhile, lets Obama off the hook for the political inaction on climate change, overturning the conventional wisdom among environmental leaders that political cowardice by the White House ultimately doomed climate legislation."
Suzanne Goldenberg reports for the Guardian January 14, 2013.
SEE ALSO:
"What Theda Skocpol Gets Right About the Cap-And-Trade Fight" (Grist/David Roberts: Part 1)
"The Road Forward From Cap-And-Trade" (Grist/David Roberts: Part 2)
"If You Want To Pass Climate Legislation, Fix U.S. Politics" (Grist/David Roberts: Part 3)
"Beyond Baby Steps: Analyzing the Cap-And-Trade Flop" (Grist/Bill McKibben)
"Why Has Climate Legislation Failed? An Interview With Theda Skocpol" (WonkBlog/Washington Post)
"Harvard Report Sets Path Towards US Climate Change Law" (DeSmogBlog)
"Are Environmental Groups to Blame for Lack of Climate Progress?" (Policy Shop)
"Climate Change Activists Need to Get Real" (Energy Collective)
"Why the Climate Bill Failed: It’S Not That Simple" (Grist)
"The Problem Wasn’t the Green Groups: What Skocpol Gets Wrong About the Climate Bill Fight" (Climate Progress/Grist)
"Paper: Environmentalists To Blame for Climate Change Inaction" (Daily Caller)
"A New Report Says Change Happens From the Outside. But in the Obama Era, It’s Happened on the Inside" (Swampland/TIME)
"Why the Environmental Movement Couldn’t Get Cap-And-Trade Passed" (Grist/Philip Bump)
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