This article studies two crucial recent developments concerning the party politics of the environment in Western Europe. By now, however, this picture has changed: A key insight of recent research is that political parties and their political entrepreneurs matter for environmental politics (Carter & Jacobs, 2014 Jensen & Spoon, 2011). Initially, they were primarily interested in studying the breakthrough and development of the Green party family (e.g., Kitschelt, 1989 MГјller-Rommel & Poguntke, 2002 van Haute, 2016). Still, despite the rise of environmentalism, political scientists long neglected its general impact on party politics (Carter, 2006, p. For them, global warming has not been a valence issue, but a controversial topic, where significant ideological differences come into play (Farstad, 2018). It is no surprise then that environmental issues have increasingly shaped competition among political parties (Carter, 2013 Spoon etВ al., 2014). More specifically, it is global warming which has become one of the defining subjects of public debate in the twenty-first century. The increased salience of environmental concerns marks one of the key developments in contemporary Western European politics. Our results have important implications for understanding contemporary political conflict in Western Europe such as the electoral rise of the Greens and the populist radical right, the importance of issue salience and the polarization of party systems. We show that the construction of wind turbines boosts the electoral support of both their biggest supporters and their biggest opponents. We employ a two-way fixed effects model, where the construction of wind turbines functions as the independent variable. Drawing on a novel dataset, we investigate the impact of the construction of wind turbines on Alternative fГјr Deutschland and Green party electoral success in Germany. Contention over the issue contributes to the electoral success of both sides and therefore reinforces the new central divide between them. Our article shows how the construction of wind turbines fuels conflict between its key proponents and opponents, Green and populist radical right parties. Still, the effects of global warming issues on electoral outcomes, party competition and polarization remain poorly understood. The increased salience of environmental concerns, first and foremost global warming, is one of the key developments of contemporary Western European politics.

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