The targeting of Reagan and Watt as environmental enemies had another consequence. Before 1981, the environment was a nonpartisan issue, with voting split more along regional lines than party lines. After Reagan's election, the Democratic party was increasingly viewed as the environmental party, while Republicans were considered antienvironmentalists. Since the national groups had blamed environmental problems on Reagan and other Republicans, it was only natural that, when Clinton was elected, many people felt that the problems were solved. National group memberships plummeted, shifting the balance of power to the local groups.
National groups work on a variety of issues, while local groups are more focused on single issue.
They know that their ability to work in DC depends on their willingness to negotiate, so they tend to be more conciliatory than local groups. A power shift from national to local groups thus indicates a greater tendancy to be extremist and a lesser willingness to negotiate. As memberships declined, groups of all sizes became more dependent on foundation fundraising. Since a few foundations set the trends for many others, this left the environmental movement following the whims of a few foundation directors. While those foundation leaders have only the best of intentions, this situation meant that environmentalists were increasingly out of touch with their memberships and with the American people in general.