Republicans for the Environment, Really

“It turns out there are still a small group of die-hard grownups left among the increasingly crazed and raving anti-science radicals of what once was a great political party in America,” that was the intro to a fun surprise post by Peter Sinclair of Climate Denial Crock of the Week. Believe it or not, there are Republicans out there who care about the environment (which we rely on to live). Truthfully, I have thought about this many times and lately, when tearing into Republican politicians, I have been careful to note that I don’t think Republican voters are necessarily the same as Republican politicians — I think a lot of them are just duped. (But so are Democrats.) Anyway, continuing on with what Peter had to share, here’s some uplifting news:

Republicans for Environmental Protection released a statement on the eve of the budget deadline last week, making these pithy points:

“The failure of Congress to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown is no longer the result of a legitimate debate about fiscal responsibility.

The failure is being perpetuated by House Republican leaders who have allowed themselves to be held hostage by theatrical malcontents pushing a radical agenda that has nothing to do with cutting wasteful government spending,..”

“True conservatives should realize that fiscal stewardship and environmental stewardship are two sides of the same coin. Both are required to fulfill our responsibility to future generations,

“House Republicans, and the Tea Party radicals leading them around by the nose, may want to return to the libertarian glory days when smog clouded our cities and rivers caught on fire, but most Americans—Republican, Democrat or independent—don’t. They want clean air and water, they support environmental protection laws, and they want Congress to quit playing politics with public health and let EPA do its job,..”

Today’s mindless, milling rabble of Beck-bores, dittoheads, Palin-ophiles, and Bachmanites like to call themselves “conservatives”, and pretend that they belong to any intellectual tradition other than the “no-nothing”, nativist and racist dregs of American history.  But what is the real history of the conservative tradition in regard to environmental protection?

From there, Sinclair very gracefully mentions some truly noteworthy statements by Republican leaders of the past, such as these by Edmund Burke,  (1729 – 1797):

“Never, no, never, did Nature say one thing, and Wisdom say another.”
Third Letter on Regicide Peace, 1797

“Knowledge of those unalterable Relations which Providence has ordained that every thing should bear to every other…To these we should conform in good Earnest; and not think to force Nature, and the whole Order of her System, by a Compliance with our Pride, and Folly, to conform to our artificial Regulations.
“A Vindication of Natural Society, 1757

“Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation.”
New Nationalism speech, Ossowatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910

Seriously, if a Democrat said such things today I would jump up in enthusiasm!

For more from Theodore Roosevelt, Russell Kirk, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, George Schultz, check out: Not an Oxymoron: “Republicans for Environmental Protection” Speak out.

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Image via Republicans for Environmental Protection

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