PARTY MEMBERSHIP AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS: A LEGISLATIVE ROLL-CALL ANALYSIS.

The article presents information on the contemporary environmental politics in the U.S. Candidates positions on environmental issues appear to have played major roles in several election races, while initiatives and referenda aimed at protecting the quality of the environment have often fared quite well compared to other money measures. Politicians generally have not couched debate over environmental issues in partisan terms, and political commentators have emphasized the non-partisan nature of environmental issues. While it may be true that few dispute the ideal of a quality environment, many segments of society definitely oppose specific attempts to achieve such an environment. This is not surprising since it has become clear that the costs involved in efforts to attain or preserve environmental quality, both in the narrow monetary sense and in the more general sense of altered habits and lifestyles, are considerable and seldom accepted willingly. One of the characteristics of contemporary environmental politics of concern is that many pro-environment proposals are extremely innovative in nature, since there is increasing recognition that to be successful they must bring about drastic and abrupt change.