Green Republicans

Wow, I didn't know that there were Green Republicans. Talk about endangered species.

The Green Old Party

Once upon a time, the Republican Party was a leader on environmental issues. In fact, it was the environmental leader. If you came of age between the inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1981 and the inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001, you probably think that statement is nuts. When I speak to college audiences, in fact, I find that almost all of them think that a Republican is supposed to be anti-environmental, and that if you care about protecting the environment you must be a Democrat. And that's a shame. It reflects an indifference to the historical record, and more important, poses a danger to environmental progress.

Environmentalists who remain Republicans reflect an indifference to current reality.

Originally posted by Happy Monkey
Environmentalists who remain Republicans reflect an indifference to current reality.

Environmentalists who remain Republican might just be enlightened and sticking to their guns instead of caving like everyone else.

Well when you get down to it, most environmental policies make long term economic sense. The problem is that getting hard numbers is difficult and economists on the whole, perfer whatever policy requires the least governmental intervention in the market, particularly these days.

Originally posted by Troubleshooter
Environmentalists who remain Republican might just be enlightened and sticking to their guns instead of caving like everyone else.

I hope so, but I think they may have lost the battle. Perhaps they can make a comeback.

Bush 41 signed the Clean Air Act and people didn't give him any credit for it because he was Republican. It's part of my decision that partisanship is superstition. What actually happens in the world is irrelevant to most people and they prefer their loose collection of stereotypes and knee-jerk thinking.

Saddamus interuptus distracted everyone.;)

Traditional environmentalism means everyone ends up shivering in the dark. What's the Republican version, everyone except the ultra-rich end up shivering the dark?

Originally posted by russotto
Traditional environmentalism means everyone ends up shivering in the dark. What's the Republican version, everyone except the ultra-rich end up shivering the dark?

An enlightened capitalism is one that nurtures the environment so that it can provide an exploitable resource over the long term. Instead of clearcutting, replant as you go and in ten or so years do it again, etc., etc.

Ten years for paper, more like 50 for hardwood.:)