How common are single-issue environmentalists?

[darklordoftech]

Environmentalism was my introduction to politics.

[SingingAnalyst]

Fairly common-- with an important caveat.

Environmentalism took flower, so to speak, with the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. It took some time to catch on, but eventually DDT was banned and the EPA was created (in 1970). By the 1970s, we kids were learning about protecting environment from Woodsy Owl ("Give a hoot, don't pollute!!") Ahh I miss those days...

But I digress. What many people today don't realize is that, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, much of the impetus behind legal abortion (and, earlier, birth control) was concern about overpopulation-- an issue that, like environmentalism, falls under the umbrella of "humans and overpopulation and pollution are destroying the planet: we must act". It is no accident that, even in the 1970s-- long before today's political fault lines had taken shape-- areas of the country where support for environmentalism was strongest (such as the Pacific Northwest in general and Oregon in particular) were also the strongest pro-choice states, at least in terms of public opinion.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

In general elections, I don't think they exist in any meaningful number. Pure speculation, but it seems to me like environmental views correlate very well with other party positions, e.g., a person who thinks climate action is important will probably also value worker protections, affordable health care, etc. Even people who care deeply about environmental issues (or, flip-side, have interests that are much more sympathetic to land development, resource extraction, agriculture, etc.) won't really have to choose between the two major parties because the party that supports environmental issues (subs. ag, resources, etc.) will agree with them on all of their other policy positions. Maybe you can make an exception for Greens peeling votes away from the Democratic party but the Green Party now isn't really an environmental movement as much as it is an alternative leftist party.

It's possible that you may see single-issue environmental voters at the primary level, but most candidates agree on what environmental issues are, but differ in nuances in their policy solutions. So a single-issue voter is going to be basing their decision criterion on wonky policy issues; this really limits the voter pool here to a small (but non-zero) number of voters.