With less than 100 days until the 2016 presidential election, more and more people keep projecting what issues they are most passionate about, and why they support certain candidates over others. After many years of paying attention to politics and party platforms, I know that most people consider helping the environment to be a liberal issue, while conservatives have other priorities. In fact, I am often called a "left-wing-tree-hugging-hippie" in my Republican household just for telling them how much I appreciate nature and wish to maintain a healthy environment. I laugh when they say it, but my response to them will always be the same: Why does the environment have to be a political issue?

I know that Republicans don't necessarily hate the environment; it's just they believe in using the earth's resources to further economic development rather than preserving as much as possible. I do agree that using the earth's resources is not a bad thing, but I also know that everything human has an impact on nature and if we focus too much using as much land possible instead of preserving it, then we will be faced with much bigger issues.

If the world does not do anything to combat pollution, climate change, or resource depletion, then we will live in a world that becomes less and less sustainable for human life. As the human population continues to grow each year, we need to take the time as a society to focus on conserving land and energy, as well as working to reduce climate change through recycling, using more energy efficient products, and planting trees after deforestation. Yes, I know that helping the environment is a lot more complex than that and very expensive to implement, but Republican politicians and everyday citizens need to realize that the pros outweigh the cons in the long run. If we focus on putting our time and funding into the environment, then we can use the earth's resources in a more sustainable way to develop the economy even further. But if we don't, and we just continue taking as much as we can from the earth, then we will eventually run out of resources, and the economy will come crashing down.

So because of this, I believe that conserving the environment should be common sense rather than "just another debate topic at family dinner." Instead of viewing environmental issues as liberal issues, and calling Republicans "anti-environment," which we know is not true, we should stop making it a political issue and tackle this issue as our duty as humans on this earth.