Preface xi
Term Shared Terms Republican Terms Democratic Terms
Public lands Access, land Management, forest,
energy, service, hunting
Subcommittee,
environmental, resources,
natural, conservation, parks
Solar Energy, wind, power Oil, sources, Solyndra,
nuclear, gas, coal
Jobs, renewable, clean,
technology, panels, research
Sustainability Program, fiscal, term Budget, path, Medicare,
nation, million, ensure
Water, environmental,
research, jobs, programs
Sustainable
energy
Climate Clean, change,
affordable, future, plan,
sources, term
Environment, program,
coalition, renewable,
electricity, funding, research
Waters Rule, united, EPA,
protection, clean,
proposed, navigable
River, program, flood,
conservation, management,
resources, local
Wetlands Conservation, water,
restore, coastal
EPA, waters, streams,
protect, oil
Program, restoration, north,
American, projects
Wilderness Land,* protect* Water, resources, forest,
service
Public, acres, monument,
mountains, introduced
Wind Energy, power, solar,
tax, production, jobs
Offshore, development,
deepwater
Renewable, clean, industry
*Denotes stem words with various endings that appear as commonly associated.
Source: “DCinbox—Capturing Every Congressional Constituent E-newsletter from 2009
Onwards,” The Legislative Scholar 2, no. 1 (2017): 2–36.
Table 2 illuminates some general trends in how the parties approach different
environmental topics. Instead of having to explore the party prescriptions for each
issue in detail, readers can use this sort of shortcutting to gain telling insights into
the views of members of the different parties. Take, for instance, the topic of drill-
ing: Both parties associate drilling with words like offshore, oil, energy, gas, and gulf
to refer to where drilling happens and what resources are being sought. But con-
gressional Republicans also associate the words moratorium, president, administra-
tion, and jobs with drilling, because they view President Obama’s 2016 moratorium
on new drilling as a hindrance to job growth. On the other hand, congressional
Democrats associate the words coast, spill, deepwater, and natural with drilling,
because they view deepwater drilling as a spill risk that may threaten the coasts of
the United States and the natural habitats within.
Overall, on issues concerning the environment, members of the Republican
Party are much more likely to criticize the policies, priorities, and regulations of
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) specifically and the Obama adminis-
tration in general. A general theme that emerges from Democrat-authored com-
munications is a focus on how conservation and environmental protection are
critical to public health, ecosystem integrity, and a cleaner energy future for the
United States.
