In the seven years since I co-founded
Republicans for Environmental Protection, officially known as REP
America, I have answered two questions more often than any others:
“Isn’t Republicans for Environmental Protection an oxymoron?”
And, “If you care so much about conservation and environmental
protection, why don’t you become a Democrat?”
The first
one is easy to answer. No, Republicans for Environmental Protection
is not an oxymoron. I can rattle off a list of Republican
presidents, senators, representatives, governors, and ordinary
citizens who fought hard for the laws that cleaned up our air and
water, protected our natural resources, and saved vast tracts of
our public lands. And they have many kindred spirits in the GOP
today.
We conservation-minded Republicans are the true
conservatives in our party. True conservatives protect the health
and well-being of current and future generations. If conservatives
won’t conserve, who will? REP America believes so strongly that
conservation is conservative that we’ve trademarked that slogan.
So, dealing with the “oxymoron question” is a snap.
The
answer to the second question is more complex. I have always been a
Republican, I was an elected Republican for 10 years, and I don’t
agree with the Democrats on everything either. Rather than
switching parties, I’d rather make a stand for what I believe
within my own party. I am simply not willing to see irresponsible,
anti-conservation radicals take over my party without a fight.
But my fight with my party doesn’t address a fundamental
problem that the conservation community needs to confront head on.
So, here’s the real core of my answer to that second question: The
two-party system works best in this country. One-party issues get
lost in partisan bickering. Third parties muddy the waters. Only
when the leaders of both major parties take up a cause do the
American people see meaningful, permanent progress. So we must
restore the environment as an important issue for both Republicans
and Democrats.
As long as one party takes the
environmental vote for granted and the other party ignores it,
we’ll continue to see our hard-won gains eroded by short-sighted
politicians of both parties. We must make both Republicans and
Democrats compete for our support and hold both parties accountable
for their performance.
The obvious corollary to that
argument is that as long as the environmental community routinely
backs one party and demonizes, ignores or gives up on the other,
we’ll never make the environment a two-party issue. Accountability
means more than merely being critical when our leaders fall short
of the mark. Accountability means we must also praise them —
Republicans and Democrats alike — when they do the right thing.
It’s too easy to surrender to the grim reality of one
“green” party and one “brown” party. Whatever good may be done by
the “greens” when they’re in power can be undone by the “browns”
when the cycle turns and they take power back. If you doubt that,
just look at what is happening right now in Washington, D.C., to
our national forests and parks, clean air standards, wetlands
protections and conservation budgets.
One thing is
certain: That happy state of bi-partisan competition for our votes
won’t become reality if we conservationists give up on the GOP. We
absolutely must support pro-conservation Republicans now in office
and help others like them get elected. And there’s a practical
reason why conservationists of all political stripes should be glad
to have a Republican membership organization like REP America
around.
With our growing numbers and “conservation is
conservative” message, we offer the perfect foil to the rants of
Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk. We cut off at the knees their
absurd claims that only “watermelons” and “wackos” care about
protecting America’s natural heritage. Through our web site
(www.rep.org), our Green Elephant newsletter, our speeches, op-eds
and published letters to the editor, we provide a counterweight to
the anti-conservation extremists. We at REP America are working
toward the day when both parties compete to be environmental
champions. Given where the GOP is at this moment, that will take
some time.
If I didn’t think it could happen, I never
would have begun this endeavor. But I do believe that our quest to
“green up” the GOP will ultimately succeed. If enough Republicans
with an environmental conscience band together and speak with one
voice, we can save our party from its own shortsightedness. More
importantly, future Americans will thank our generation for being a
responsible voice for theirs.
Martha Marks is a
contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News
in Paonia, Colorado (hcn.org). A former county commissioner in Lake
County, Illinois, she and her husband live in Santa Fe, New
Mexico.
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