共和党人面临两难境地。

该党如何避免疏远那些不相信气候变化是由人类活动造成的——或者认为政府应该在这个问题上扮演一个小角色或不存在的角色——同时又能安抚年轻一代，让他们呼吁对这个问题立即采取补救措施，这个问题可能会对他们以后的生活产生重大影响？

在选举年他们是如何做到这一点的？

共和党在应对气候变化方面行动迟缓。民主党人和环保组织经常认为，他们提出的更为狭隘的倡议是不够深入的不切实际的。

但当他们面临选民的压力时，尤其是希望华盛顿立法者更积极地解决这一问题的千禧一代共和党人，许多人觉得他们别无选择，只能精心策划许多政界人士认为不可避免的事情:在为时过晚之前修复气候。

“党必须扩大。不仅如此，抛开政治不谈，这是一个好政府，”共和党战略家苏珊·德尔·珀西奥告诉记者新闻周刊。“这是我们的政府应该做的:保护我们免受潜在的灾难，如果我们什么都不做，不仅会出现环境问题，还会对我们的国家和世界产生巨大的经济影响。”

那不容易。

任何立法，尤其是如果附加税收抵免、政府支出或更多法规，都会面临巨大障碍。共和党人认为政府在应对气候变化方面的作用有限，他们强调需要通过税收激励来吸引而不是惩罚人们和公司减少碳足迹，并倡导投资于研究和创新、公私合作以及放松对政策的管制，他们认为政府的过度干预只会抑制社会变得更加环保的意愿。

“共和党人一直担心的一个问题是，承认气候变化意味着你在倡导大政府，你在抛弃自由市场。但事实并非如此。“这不是二元的，”负责能源解决方案的公民组织的执行董事希瑟·里姆斯说新闻周刊。“我们没有失去原则，也没有摧毁资本主义。”

Reams的组织与全国各地的保守派官员合作，寻找推进财政“负责任的、保守的解决方案”的方法，解决气候变化问题，而共和党人可以落后。越来越多的年轻共和党选民希望他们的政党解决这个问题。

2月19日，在加利福尼亚州贝克斯菲尔德，一名农民在与当地农民举行的立法签字集会上称赞唐纳德·特朗普总统，众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡在一旁观看。

例如，公民对负责任的能源解决方案的调查显示超过三分之二年轻的共和党选民认为共和党人需要做更多的事情来应对气候变化，其中一半认为忽视这一点将会伤害该党。不同实体进行的其他民意调查也显示出类似的结果，年轻的共和党人支持政府的行动，而年长的党员则不支持。

“对年轻选民来说，最重要的事情之一是气候变化和我们正在做的事情，”德尔·帕西奥说。"共和党当然不会向年轻选民张开双臂。"

对令姆斯来说，众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡(右加州)和他的几个共和党同事上周迈出了重要的一步，揭开了以碳捕获、保护和清洁能源为中心的三管齐下倡议的第一部分。这个想法实质上是种植更多的树，使获得碳税收抵免和投资新技术变得更容易。该计划中寻求在全球种植1万亿棵树的部分，在上个月的国情咨文中受到了唐纳德·特朗普总统的赞扬。

但该计划遭到了众议院一些最保守成员的迅速抵制，此外还有与共和党结盟的倡导团体，如政治行动委员会增长俱乐部。该组织的反对源于该提案对补贴和税收抵免的使用，它发誓不会支持任何支持该计划的共和党人。

“关键是这里的自由市场方面，”增长俱乐部的通信副总裁乔·基尔迪亚告诉记者新闻周刊。“依赖补贴的麦卡锡提案本质上是社会主义的产物，我们认为这不会成功。”

Kildea拒绝详细说明他的团队可能支持的立法的一般类型。他说，他们正在将信息转发给另一家媒体，该媒体将在稍后公布信息。

一个不太可能的保守派——鉴于他在政治上接近特朗普——在气候变化领域一直直言不讳，已经提出了自己的计划。这个人就是国会议员马特·盖兹，他长期以来一直主张他的共和党同事承认气候变化的存在，并更积极地应对它。

“看到更多的共和党人放弃否认气候变化作为一种治理和政治策略，我很受鼓舞，”这位阳光州的立法者告诉记者新闻周刊在短信里。

众议员马特·盖兹(右)于2019年4月3日在华盛顿特区举行的新闻发布会上宣布了“绿色真实交易”。该“绿色真实交易”是一项决议，旨在回应众议员亚历山大·奥西奥-科尔特斯(纽约州)和参议员埃德·马基(马萨诸塞州)倡导的“绿色新政”。

盖兹展示了他的绿色真实交易作为绿色新政的一个切实可行的替代方案，民主党人计划通过彻底改革美国的能源消耗来应对气候变化，这项计划是由新生众议员亚历山德里亚·奥西奥·科尔特斯(纽约)牵头的。保守派称，该计划在经济上不可行，也很幼稚。

盖兹的计划尚未获得投票，仅由共和党众议员弗朗西斯·鲁尼(Francis Rooney)共同发起，旨在减少温室气体排放的计划是多管齐下的:大幅削减法规，特别是禁止联邦土地用于可再生能源研究的法规；电网现代化；投资清洁技术，如核能、水力发电和碳捕获；保护美国创新者的知识产权。

“历史会严厉评判我那些否认气候变化科学的共和党同事，”盖兹在去年四月他的绿色真实交易的揭幕仪式上说。“如果共和党人真的承认气候正在变化，那么他们每个人都有责任支持一个解决方案——而不是仅仅承认这个问题，让自己的脑袋陷入困境。”

尽管超级党派之争似乎在华盛顿一年到头都在加剧，但令姆斯说，自从她的组织在2013年垮台后，她注意到共和党人在解决一个对未来有如此深远影响的环境问题的意愿上存在相当大的差异。

众议院共和党的计划，作为一个例子，是一个“朝着正确方向”的良好开端现在，她只需要继续轻推它们，她说。

“我觉得我是抓住松鼠的狗，”里姆斯说。“共和党人开始做事了。以前几乎什么都没有，现在我们有了复兴和伟大的想法。我们将开始对话，并开始找出有效的方法。”

 

PRESSURED BY YOUNGER VOTERS AND AN ELECTION, REPUBLICANS RELUCTANTLY EMBRACE CLIMATE CHANGE

Republicans face a dilemma.

How does the party refrain from alienating its hardline base members who don't believe climate change is caused by human activity—or who believe government should play a small or nonexistent role in the problem—while also appeasing a younger generation that calls for immediate remedies to a problem that could have major implications for them later in life?

And how do they do that in an election year?

Republicans have been slow to tackle climate change. And Democrats and environmental groups often consider the more narrowly-tailored initiatives they do propose as non-starters for not going far enough.

But as they face pressure from voters, especially millennial Republicans who want Washington lawmakers to more aggressively address the issue, many feel they have no option but to craft what many across the political spectrum say is inevitable: fix the climate before it's too late.

"The party has to expand. And not only that, putting the politics aside, this is good government," GOP strategist Susan Del Percio told Newsweek. "This is what our government is supposed to do: protect us from potential disasters, which if we do nothing, not only will there be an environmental issue, there will be a huge economic impact on our country and the world."

That won't be easy.

Any legislation, particularly if tax credits, government spending or more regulations are attached, faces steep hurdles. Republicans who believe the government can have a limited role in combating climate change emphasize the need to entice—not punish—people and companies to lessen their carbon footprint with tax incentives, and advocate for investments in research and innovation, private-public partnerships and deregulation of policies they view as government overreach that only stifles society's willingness to become more eco-friendly.

"One of the fears that Republicans have had is that acknowledging climate change means you're advocating for big government and you're throwing out the free market. But that's not the case. It's not binary," Heather Reams, the executive director of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, told Newsweek. "We're not losing our principles or dismantling capitalism."

Reams' organization works with conservative officials across the country to find ways to advance fiscally "responsible, conservative solutions" that tackle climate change and that Republicans can get behind. It's an issue that an increasing number of young GOP voters want their party to address.

A farmer praises President Donald Trump as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy looks on during a legislation signing rally with local farmers on February 19 in Bakersfield, California.

Polling by Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, for example, last year showed more than two-thirds of younger GOP voters feel Republicans need to do more to address climate change and that half of them believe ignoring it will hurt the party. Other polls conducted by various entities have bared similar results, with younger Republicans supporting government action while older party members do not.

"One of the most important things to younger voters is climate change and what we're doing," Del Percio said. "And the Republican Party is certainly not opening its arms to younger voters."

To Reams, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and several of his GOP colleagues last week took the significant step to unveil the first part of a three-pronged initiative centered on carbon capture, conservation and clean energy. The idea is to essentially plant more trees, make it easier to achieve carbon tax credits and invest in new technologies. The portion of the plan that seeks to plant 1 trillion new trees across the globe received praise from President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address last month.

But the plan was met with swift resistance by some of the chamber's most conservative members, in addition to Republican-aligned advocacy groups, such as the political action committee Club for Growth. The organization, whose opposition stems from the proposal's use of subsidies and tax credits, has vowed to not endorse any Republican who backs the plan.

"The key is the free market aspect here," Joe Kildea, Club for Growth's VP of communications, told Newsweek. "The McCarthy proposal that relies on subsidies is essentially socialism lite, and we do not think that will be successful."

Kildea declined to elaborate about the general types of legislation his group could get behind. He said they were in the process of relaying the information to another media outlet, which would release the information at an unspecified later date.

An unlikely conservative—given his political proximity to Trump—who's been vocal in the climate change arena has presented his own plan. That person is Congressman Matt Gaetz, who's long advocated for his GOP colleagues to acknowledge the existence of climate change and to more aggressively tackle it.

"I'm encouraged to see more Republicans abandon climate denial as a governing and political strategy," the Sunshine State lawmaker told Newsweek in a text message.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks during a news conference to announce the "Green Real Deal" on April 3, 2019 in Washington, D.C. The "Green Real Deal" is a resolution intended to serve as a response to the "Green New Deal" promoted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).

Gaetz presents his Green Real Deal as a practical alternative to the Green New Deal, Democrats' plan to combat climate change by overhauling American energy consumption that was spearheaded by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). That plan, conservatives say, is economically unviable and naïve.

Gaetz's plan, which has not received a vote and is co-sponsored by only Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), to drive down greenhouse gas emissions is multi-pronged: slash regulations, specifically those barring federal lands from being used for renewable energy research; modernize the electric grid; invest in cleaner technologies, like nuclear energy, hydropower and carbon capture; and protect American innovators' intellectual property.

"History will judge harshly my Republican colleagues who deny the science of climate change," Gaetz said at the unveiling of his Green Real Deal in April of last year. "If Republicans do acknowledge the climate is changing, then it's incumbent upon each and every one of them to support a solution—not to merely acknowledge the problem and stay with their heads stuck in the sand."

While the hyper-partisanship seems to be exacerbated and play out year-round in Washington, Reams said that since her organization took fold in 2013, she's noticed a considerable difference in the readiness among Republicans' to address an environmental issue with such sweeping implications for the future.

The plan by the House GOP, Reams used as an example, is a good starting point that's "in the right direction." Now, she just needs to keep nudging them, she said.

"I feel like I'm the dog that caught the squirrel," Reams said. "Republicans are starting to do things. Before, there was hardly anything, and now we've got this renaissance and great ideas coming out. We're going to start having conversations and start figuring out what works."