"It's the environment, stupid."
That might be how Aron Cramer, the president and CEO of Business for Social Responsibility, would sum up the problems facing future Republicans.
In an interview with The Huffington Post at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday, Cramer predicted Republican candidates will soon have a difficult time campaigning on a platform that denies climate change.
"Over the long run, and soon in the short run, it’s not going to be viable politically to be seen as anti-science," he explained. "All the polling shows that rising generations in particular reject that kind of thinking ... it's seen as anti-modern."
“I don’t think you can win politically by clinging to these ideas that simply don’t add up”
Cramer noted establishment Republicans like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Newt Gingrich used to acknowledge the importance of addressing climate change. Though they have quieted down lately, he envisions a GOP turnaround.
"I think the Republican party will re-join the global consensus that human beings are creating climate change, and that we have to do something about it," he said. "That it’s not a future issue, it’s a present issue. That it’s not about having less in our economy, it’s actually about innovation."
"I don’t think you can win politically by clinging to these ideas that simply don’t add up," he added.
More from the World Economic Forum 2016:
- The Secret To Ending Plastic Waste And Its Devastating Impacts
- CEOs Are Waking Up From Obsession With Profits And Facing Harsh Reality
- How Widening Economic Inequality Could Shake The Whole World
- These 10 Major Companies Admit They Don't Have Enough Women
- The Hidden Environmental Cost Of Almost Everything You Do Online
- Stop Demonizing Fossil Fuel Companies, Warns Global Bank Chief
- The Secret To Keeping Women Happy At Work Is Painfully Obvious
- The Woman Who Most Inspires Melinda Gates
- Finance Industry's 'Macho Attitude' About Sleep Has Serious Consequences