A new environmentalism with the demographics and politics of gun-owning households.

Climate scientists have largely failed to gain the support of those they need the most — white men who own guns. The American citizen most likely to own a gun is a white male. Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to be members of a gun-owning household. Political independents also are more likely than Democrats to have a firearm in their homes. White southerners are significantly more likely to have a gun at home than whites in other regions. As a group, Americans who have a gun at home see themselves differently than do other adults. According to the survey, adults in gun-owning households are more likely to think of themselves as an “outdoor person” or “a typical American”, and to say “honor and duty are my core values”. Not surprisingly, members of gun-owning households are more than twice as likely to identify themselves as a “hunter, fisher or sportsman”.

The report, “Oil and Gas Industry Investments in the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International: Reshaping American Energy, Land and Wildlife Policy,” is a revealing portrait of how a powerful lobby can undermine two bedrock principles that have united American sportsmen for more than a century: public access to wildlife and the protection of wildlife habitat. The report was written by Matt Lee-Ashley, director of the public…