Over the weekend a protest outside the Idaho state capitol drew groups of anti-maskers and "anti-vaxxers" some of whom turned their children over to a trashcan fire where they could burn their masks.

"No masks, no mandates. Our face, our mind," said one of the signs, according to photos and videos posted by Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos.

Conspiracy theories have grown in the past several years as Americans sit glued to social media sites that bring far-right conservatives together around siloed false news sites. But one woman has taken her conspiracies about President Joe Biden to TikToc to tell the world that they're all the ones who are stupid.

"So, I guess this needs to be said tooooooooo," she begins. "All you people who think Biden is the president, you guys cannot get no stupider, ok? He's not in the White House. It's closed down. He is on a movie set! You guys are so freaking ignorant that I just have to laugh and laugh! 'Cause you're not hurting my feelings. Never one time did Trump ever have to fake anything that he's done. Not one time! He don't fake s*it."

Days after US rioters stormed Capitol Hill in January, a manatee was found in a Florida river with the word “TRUMP" scraped into its back. The aftermath of the disturbing incident revealed a pervasive left-right divide that has long plagued environmental debate.

Polarised views dominate discussion on critical issues such as climate crisis and biodiversity protection. Typically, the left calls for more environmental protections, and the right claims these protections threaten economic prosperity or individual rights.

The election of the Biden administration raised hopes of a new dawn in environmental protections. Our research, however, suggests entrenched left-right views will continue to stymie effective environmental action in the United States – just as they do in Australia.

That's because focusing on localised protections or individual rights leaves intact a cultural blind spot that conceals systemic issues threatening nature. Tackling these issues requires confronting environmental damage to which we all contribute.

The manatee incident

The Florida manatee is a large marine mammal, and one of the original species listed as endangered under the 1966 US Endangered Species Act. The animals are similar to dugongs found in Australia.

The January 11 manatee incident was quickly co-opted into the US political debate. Some on the left accused Trump supporters of inflicting the damage. Right-wing observers downplayed the seriousness of the incident and suggested claims of abuse were manufactured by the left out of hatred for Trump.

Others framed the incident as typical of stereotypes of Florida as home to reactionary politics and “trashy" culture.

It may be tempting to dismiss the incident as unique to the Trump era or Florida itself. But doing so risks ignoring important lessons. Our research shows how framing such events as political left-right issues prevents us from recognising the deeper causes of environmental crises.