International | It’s not easy being green

The global backlash against climate policies has begun

Cost, convenience and conspiracy-mongering undercut support for greenery

An illustration showing three silhouetted faces with their mouths open and a speech bubble containing a scribbled out recycling sign.
Image: Jared Bartman
|Amsterdam, Delhi, Mackinac Island and São Paulo

“We need to be good stewards of our planet. But that doesn’t mean I need to do away with my gas vehicle and drive an electric vehicle with a battery from China,” said Kristina Karamo, the chair of the Republican Party in Michigan, on September 22nd. America’s Democrats, she warned, are trying to “convince us that if we don’t centralise power in the government, the planet is gonna die. That seems like one of the biggest scams [since] Darwinian evolution.”

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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The anti-climate backlash begins”

From the October 14th 2023 edition

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