In a recent post here at Next Gen GOP, Gideon D’Assandro expressed a desire for a policy of Alterrnative Energy Without the Hippies, but that will not be enough for a party seeking a way forward after a bad few years. Just over two years ago, South Carolina governor and likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mark Sanford wrote a expressing the need for a comprehensive Republican environmental policy. In essence, both D’Assandro and Sanford have it right on this issue set, but the latter correctly suggests that there is more to such a policy approach than energy.
To be clear, there already exists a non-profit known as , but as its website notes, it is an independent organization not associated with the RNC or any state/local political organization. Like other groups representing particular interests, Republicans for Environmental Protection Republican members of Congress on their efforts in support (or opposition to) environmentally-related legislation. Nonetheless, even this well-meaning 501(c)(4) non-profit misses the point.
Encouraging Republicans to support some contradictory Democratic environmental policy initiatives is counterproductive. Instead, Republicans must offer a clear and coherent alternative. This, however, may not be as daunting a task as it might be. Indeed, conservative stances on immigration could be argued to be more environmentally sound than those of the left who seek to monopolize concern for conservation issues. Likewise, supporting free markets is, on one level, environmentally sound, as such an economic system mitigates waste. Of course, Americans of all backgrounds and persuasions enjoy the magnificent natural treasures scattered across the United States. As such, conservatives are right to support national parks while also expressing concern for such bedrock American principles as property rights and individual liberty.
If conservatives expect to defeat cap and trade, and other leftward policies which expand the size and power of government recklessly in the name of resource conservation and environmental protection, then a clear alternative must be proposed. Failing to take a real stand in the “green” policy debate will cost the Republican Party and cost the country dearly. Let’s have an environmental policy without the hippies.
Last 5 posts by James Kane
- A November to Remember - November 8th, 2010
- On hope and fear - October 18th, 2010
- Expecting Different Results - September 12th, 2010
- A glaring omission on Iraq - August 31st, 2010
- Employing a losing strategy - August 7th, 2010