Benji Backer is not your average tree-hugging environmental activist.

Backer is a conservative, make no mistake, but he wants to take the environment out of partisan politics, where he said nothing is really getting done. He is the founder of the American Conservation Coalition, a group dedicated to using conservative ideas to help with environmental issues.

With that in mind, Backer was invited to speak on conservative environmentalism as a part of the Ripon College’s Center for Politics (CPP) and the People and the Ripon College Republicans. He sat down with CPP Director Henrik Schatzinger for a fireside chat type of presentation to explain his viewpoints.

The event took place in the upstairs venue at Knuth Brewing Co. in downtown Ripon, in front of a crowd of more than 100 people.

The focus of the event was for Backer to talk about his new book, “The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future.”

In addition, Backer has been named to the Fortune 40 under 40, Forbes 30 under 30, GreenBiz 30 under 30, Grist 50 and as a New York Times Changemaker. He also was named by ABC News as one of the “Top Five Youth Climate Change Activists You Need To Know.”

He testified along with Greta Thunberg before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy and the Environment, as well as the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Even with all those accolades, Backer is a seemingly enthusiastic 27-year-old who grew up in Appleton, dreaming of being a part of the political process. He got that chance early, by volunteering to work for the John McCain campaign, but his focus has always been more on the environment rather than partisan politics.

“We have to take the environment out of the culture wars in this country,” he said. “The country needs to work together to solve this problem. There is nothing more important that transcends party lines than the environment.”

Backer noted that more than 80% of Americans thought of themselves as environmentalists in the 1990s, but today that number is down to 40%. He thinks it is because the subject became so polarized that many people shy away from the issue, leaving it to the liberals.

He does not believe that is not the way to handle conservation.

“To solve environmental challenges we have to work with literally everyone who is willing to sit at the table with us,” Backer said. “We have to get past labels [such as] liberals want to tear down businesses, conservatives are against the environment, things like that.”

Backer is on the verge of launching a new organization called “Nature is Nonpartisan,” a group dedicated to working with anyone to solve environmental problems without political interference.

His suggestion is to focus on market-based mechanisms to solve the problem. Rather than punish people for carbon footprints, reward them for providing solutions that make money and help the environment at the same time. Next generation nuclear technology, hydro-electrics and geothermal energy are all up and coming tech that could change the landscape of American environmental policy, he noted.

Geothermal energy, in particular, would be beneficial in Backer’s eyes since that industry would employ nearly the same number of people as the oil and gas industry, but would provide much cleaner fuel. In short, he believes the government just needs to get out of the way.

“It takes 10 to 15 years for permits to approve energy projects, and by then, the technology has changed,” Backer said. “No one wants to invest in energy in this country because of that.”

Backer noted the people in Washington, D.C. don’t really know what is needed in places around the country. 

“Locals know better how to take care of their resources, better than someone who never leaves D.C.,” he said.

Backer suggested tailoring environmental issues to local areas. 

“Solar energy works best in Arizona, not so good in places like Washington state, where it is cloudy 300 days a year,” he said. “Iowa, on the other hand, is the perfect place for wind technology.”

Ideas could be floating around in the public to revolutionize the environmental fight, he said, but someone has to incentivize them to make those suggestions.

“When you empower local stakeholders to have an investment in their environment, they are going to succeed nine out of 10 times, maybe more,” he said.

One of the questions asked of Backer during the question-and-answer session pertained to national parks, which have come under fire with budget cuts.

“I would like to see a 21st-century Country Conservation Corps, just like they had back in the 1930s and 1940s,” Backer said. “They could hire veterans or anyone who needed a job that likes to work outside and help with environmental issues, such as forest control. Working with local authorities is the best use of that kind of manpower.”

Backer urged the audience to consider that no healthy America exists without a healthy environment.

“We have to find a balance between the economy and the planet, the people and the planet,” he said. “People need to be able to work and recreate and utilize the environment at the same time that we are conserving it.”

Both sides of the political spectrum want environmental improvement and Backer hopes his organization, Nature is Nonpartisan, can help with that. The organization launches March 20.

“How we are going to solve that (improving the environment) is to show politicians how Americans actually feel about it,” he said. “Right now, there is no organization that [represents] America across the political spectrum that is an environmental advocacy organization.”

Backer suggested that over the next 10 years, the country will make the environment a non-partisan issue.

“That is going to unlock America’s ability to have this dialog,” he said. “We need more advocates. I’m 27 years old. People want young people to stand up, but everybody is sitting on their hands right now. … So the best thing you can do is say ‘I’m going to ignore that, I’m going to break through the wall and I’m going to have people hear what I want to say,’ because no one is doing that and you are going to stand out. That’s what we need to do to change the narrative.”

For more information on Nature is Non-Partisan, visit www.natureisnonpartisan.org. For information on the American Conservative Coalition, visit www.acc.eco.