The American Conservation Coalition (ACC) is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit environmental advocacy organization focusing on limited-government,

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

approaches to environmental issues. The group was founded in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, in 2017.

History

ACC was founded by Benji Backer in 2017 with the goal to add conservative voices to environmental conversations. However, since its founding, ACC has evolved to advocate for legislation at the federal level and educate students on environmental issues. In 2023, it was announced that Backer would step down as president of the organization, transitioning into a chairmanship role. Danielle Butcher Franz was announced as successor, assuming the role of CEO. Other key figures include Chris Barnard as president and Stephen Perkins as COO.

Issue advocacy

ACC advocates for land and wildlife conservation, developments in clean energy and emission-reducing technology like carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), and other free-market environmental policies. ACC supports the development and deployment of

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity * Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy ...

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

geothermal energy Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

; the ACC also supports the use of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

as a relatively low-carbon fuel during a transition phase away from higher carbon sources. In 2022, ACC released The Climate Commitment. The policy framework advocates for climate change-related policies with bipartisan support, existing climate and environmental legislation in Congress, and free market principles.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.acc.eco/ Non-profit organizations based in the United States Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Environmental organizations established in 2017 Environmental organizations based in Wisconsin Appleton, Wisconsin 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations