Since most of the people identified as enemies were Republicans, environmentalists began thinking of themselves as Democrats. During the 1970s, environmentalists frequently endorsed Republican candidates such as Newt Gingrich for office. But such endorsements thinned during the 1980s. One Republican member of Congress complains that No matter what I do for the environment, environmentalists will claim it wasn't enough and will oppose me in the election. So I might as well work for the people who will support me.
Polarization is based on the premise that there are good guys and bad guys .
If environmental problems result from bad people, then the solution is to punish those bad people and make them pay for the damage they caused. This made regulation a preferred tool. On the other hand, any solution that allowed the so-called bad guys to prosper was ruled out as immoral. Like all environmentalists, free-market environmentalists believe that we face serious environmental problems, including pollution, habitat destruction, toxics, and endangered species. Unlike some environmentalists, free-market environmentalists believe that decentralized tools such as user fees, incentives, and markets will solve those problems better than centralized tools such as subsidies, bureaucracy, and regulation.