• by Fern Siegel , Yesterday

Politics has become so weaponized in the U.S. it's hard to find common ground.

The nonprofit Nature is Nonpartisan hopes to change that — reminding Americans that we all have a stake in the environment.

Nashville ad agency Victory Garden has developed a campaign to remind us that partisan politics cannot dictate its future. The campaign includes a TV spot, website, influencer-led interviews, social media content, and an out-of-home promotion across Middle America. 

The spot “Middle America” is narrated by two figures from opposite sides of the political spectrum: NFL legend Brett Favre and CNN commentator Van Jones.

Nature Is Nonpartisan, founded by Benji Backer, executive chairman of the American Conservation Coalition, is asking 1 million Americans to sign its pledge, sending a clear message to elected leaders: End the extremist/partisanship rhetoric on both sides and embrace the common-sense solutions that most Americans can agree on to protect nature.

“The future of the environmental movement will be paved by the vast majority of Americans who know nature should transcend partisan, polarizing politics,” said Backer. He notes both Teddy Roosevelt, who expanded the national park and forest systems, and Richard Nixon, who signed the Clean Water Act and established the Environmental Protection Agency, were Republican.

Nature Is Nonpartisan rejects identity politics and the idea that climate change is a hoax. On the site's team page, political labels are crossed out, replaced with what unites them: a love for nature. Backer isn’t a conservative; he’s a trailblazer. CMO Meg Haywood Sullivan isn’t a liberal; she’s a snowboarder.

For more information and to sign the pledge, visit NatureIsNonpartisan.org.