{"id":153369,"date":"2021-05-04T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=533123"},"modified":"2021-05-04T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T10:30:00","slug":"how-arizonas-attorney-general-is-weaponizing-climate-fears-to-keep-out-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/05\/04\/how-arizonas-attorney-general-is-weaponizing-climate-fears-to-keep-out-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"How Arizona\u2019s attorney general is weaponizing climate fears to keep out immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This\u00a0story<\/a><\/em>\u00a0was originally published by\u00a0HuffPost<\/a>\u00a0and is reproduced here as part of the<\/em>\u00a0Climate Desk<\/em><\/a>\u00a0collaboration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich accused the Biden administration of failing to protect the environment in a recent lawsuit, it seemed like an unusual claim from a Republican better known for distorting climate science<\/a> in legal briefs defending oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That is, until you read what Brnovich considers the source of pollution: immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a lawsuit<\/a> filed April 12, Brnovich seeks to reinstate President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s immigration policies, on the argument that Biden has failed to carry out mandatory environmental reviews on how more immigration could increase climate-changing pollution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMigrants (like everyone else) need housing, infrastructure, hospitals, and schools. They drive cars, purchase goods, and use public parks and other facilities,\u201d the suit reads. \u201cTheir actions also directly result in the release of pollutants, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which directly affects air quality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using pro-environment arguments to defend anti-immigration views dates back decades, to a time when the environmental movement harbored a powerful faction of Malthusians who believed the preservation of nature merited harsh, even violent, restrictions on immigration and childbearing. That faction faded to the fringes over the years as the political right moved to championing both climate denial and hardened borders, and environmentalists marginalized any openly racist elements in their camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, Arizona\u2019s lawsuit is one of the highest-profile examples of how the political right will shift on climate change as warming-fueled disasters mount and render denial an untenable position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs it becomes more and more difficult to deny that climate change is real and human caused, the Republican Party is going to need new strategies, especially if they have any hope of attracting a younger generation,\u201d said John Hultgren, a professor of environmental politics at Bennington College in Vermont. \u201cThis is a potential strategy. It won\u2019t do anything to help us mitigate or adapt to climate change, but it will give the thin veneer of an appearance that they care about climate change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is also a sign that a more nefarious ideological view could be making its way into mainstream politics: the idea that the response to ecological collapse and rising seas should be to limit who gets a seat in a finite number of civilizational lifeboats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That view has already gained traction in Europe, where far-right parties are increasingly adopting<\/a> that rhetoric as voters\u2019 concern over climate change converges with anger at migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe specter of \u2018ecofascism\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n