The recent national elections in the United States seem to pose a challenge to progressive environmentalists. But American politics has experienced many periods of conservative reaction. Is the situation in 2017 so different from the situation in 1980, for example? How have shifts in the national political landscape influenced environmental politics in the past? What can history teach us about the contemporary political divide over environmental policy and the political challenges involved in our current energy transition? Donald Trump seemed to draw a great deal of support from regions strongly affected by the shift away from fossil fuels; can environmental historians shed light on how energy policies have shaped the politics in coal country? This panel explores the lessons we can learn from history about the prospects and dynamics of progressive environmental politics in the next few years.