The Republican Party has a lengthy record of environmental accomplishments, which stretch back to Abraham Lincoln’s protection of Yosemite Valley in 1864 and include Theodore Roosevelt’s forest and wildlife conservation, Richard Nixon’s creation of the EPA, and Ronald Reagan’s leadership in addressing ozone depletion.
Over the past two decades, however, the party has failed to embrace this history. It has become less conscious of the need for good stewardship and has largely ceded its reputation for safeguarding the environment to the Democrats.
Reclaiming the GOP’s heritage as the party of stewardship and conservation will not be easy. Democrats are politically well-positioned on many environmental issues and stand to get credit for reversing some unpopular Bush Administration decisionsÑbut they are not without vulnerabilities. One issue they are vulnerable on is mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR).
This practice, blasting off the tops of mountains as a cheaper means of accessing coal, leaves average Americans shaking their heads in disbelief. It permanently disfigures mountains, leaves streams buried under the waste debris, and contaminates drinking water aquifers.
MTR has frayed people’s lives in central Appalachia, who must endure the constant noise and dust from blasting, well water that is unfit to use, and a lost environment on which their heritage, traditions and quality of life have been based for generations.
The practice so far has affected more than 450 mountains, mostly in southern West Virginia and southeastern Kentucky, and buried 1,200 miles of streams under the resulting “overburden.” It is hard to imagine a starker example of environmental destruction.
Two high-profile Democrats are the biggest defenders of MTR, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), and Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), president pro tem of the Senate and its longest-serving current member.
Republicans could put the Democrats in a real bind by calling for an end to MTR. Any effort to end MTR mining would be blocked by Chairman Rahall, allowing Republicans to turn the tables on the Democrats and seize the high ground on a key environmental issue.
Such a bold move will undoubtedly be criticized by the coal industry and make a few coal-state Republicans nervous, but the political reality is that traditional coal miners are not big fans of MTRÑSenator McCain handily carried both West Virginia and Kentucky after pledging to end MTRÑand the practice offends most Americans’ stewardship ethic.
Republicans must start staking out more defensible terrain on environmental issues and be a constant and constructive force for stewardship. In doing so, we must draw a positive contrast to Democrats by exposing their shortcomings and exploiting their areas of vulnerability.
Environmentally conscious voters, particularly young people, have come to associate the Republican PartyÑand conservatismÑwith short-sighted opposition to responsible environmental protections. In last year’s election, Barack Obama captured the youth vote by a 2-to-1 margin. Republicans cannot hope to be politically competitive again without getting a larger share of the youth vote.
Americans of all ages expect their leaders to be good stewardsÑand the image of the GOP as shortsighted on the environment is as politically untenable as it is contrary to real conservatism.
Being good stewards of the God-given resources that sustain our lives, our values and our traditions is an original conservative idea that stems directly from the writing of Edmund Burke and is firmly rooted in Biblical teaching.
By aggressively seizing the high ground on issues such as MTR, Republicans can reclaim a positive reputation on environmental issues and broaden the party’s appeal without compromising conservative principles.
11 responses so far
1 Keegan // Mar 5, 2009 at 7:21 am
Yes! Well put, Mr. Jenkins. An undeniable political reality along with hard tactics. I can’t wait to see our party move in the direction you describe.
2 sinz54 // Mar 5, 2009 at 10:11 am
Good luck trying to get the Republican Party to take a stand against any form of coal mining. I can hear the slurs now: “RINO!” “Sellout!” “Democrat Lite!” Perhaps you’ve forgotten that during the 2008 campaign, Joe Biden had hinted that coal mining might be restricted in favor of cleaner air and fighting global warming–and conservatives instantly pounced on it.
3 Stewardship // Mar 5, 2009 at 11:56 am
sinz54. Remember that those words were barely out of then- Sen. Biden’s mouth when the Obama team vociferously retracted them. It was Sen. McCain who staked out a position against mountain top removal, not the other side.
There is nothing liberal or moderate about Mr. Jenkins’ words. Russell Kirk, Ronald Reagan’s conservative conscious, said, ” Nothing is more conservative than conservation.”
4 Go Dog Go! // Mar 5, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I find it interesting that my comment disputing this tack in challenging the Dems was deleted. The notion that the GOP can take on its rivals with the MTR issue is simply impossible given the last 40 years of vocal opposition to any environmental measures. It will require a fundamental change within the party to overcome the only heritage anyone alive remembers. If that’s too much to bear, don’t even think of using this idea to challenge Dems. Or just go ahead and delete me again.
5 sinz54 // Mar 6, 2009 at 11:15 am
Stewardship: McCain has long been known as a maverick on environmental and many other issues; he has disagreed with GOP orthodoxy many times. The 2008 GOP Platform said, “We firmly oppose efforts by Democrats to block the construction of new coal-fired power plants. No strategy for reducing energy costs will be viable without a commitment to continued coal production and utilization.” No caveats or qualifications there.
6 Stewardship // Mar 6, 2009 at 11:23 am
sinz54- The platform also recognized, for the first time, man’s role in climate change and that efforts must be taken to arrest it (sorry-don’t have it front of me to quote verbatim). It would not have been in the platform without support from Sen. McCain. While I just as soon we build nuclear plants and stop burning coal, others in both parties might disagree with me. The distinction is that Sen. McCain opposed MTR–which is not the same thing as opposing coal altogether. I appreciate your level-headed tone and our exchange. Thanks.
7 green girl // Mar 7, 2009 at 10:41 am
I have long thought that if the Republicans would embrace Teddy Roosevelt’s stance of “I hate a man that skins the land” policy that could be the tie that binds them to the center. The green movement grows and those of us in the know –know that it was the young “greens” that put Obama over the top. They volunteered long hours because Obama promised renewable energy and stewardship for their future. Never doubt that. Mountaintop removal is definitely that black/white issue that is winnnable as more movies will be out this year about the practice of mountaintop removal. AS I said the Republicans should realize that “Green” will only grow bigger and bigger, the youth are becoming more and more Green–their numbers grow by the day and they will be voting for many many years to come. Jump on the wagon now. I think you realize that change is the only thing that will help the party survive. The party must change. McCain opposed MTR and carried WV and KY.
8 Bruno // Mar 7, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I’ve been a Republican since 1981 when I turned 18, voted for Reagan in 1984, and served in the Air Force until 1992. I never thought I’d have to fight in my own back yard to keep it from being blown up or my home flooded by MTR, but if I speak out here in WV I’m labeled as a bleeding heart liberal. Rahall and Byrd (and Governor Joe Manchin, also a D) promote the destruction of our mountains and the poisoning of our water so they can sell coal overseas, and the supply of coal is depleting rapidly (less than 20 years left in WV). Truly renewable energy (wind and solar) would make us more energy independent and put people to work, but the D’s in power in WV oppose it.
There’s certainly nothing conservative or Godly about poisoning babies and veterans.
9 ottovbvs // Mar 8, 2009 at 7:14 am
“Over the past two decades, however, the party has failed to embrace this history”
…….Are you kidding…..The GOP is perceived as the anti environmental party. On everything from protecting wetlands and depleting the ozone layer to arsenic in the ground water the GOP has either denied there’s a problem or campaigned against solutions. It’s one of the core areas where we’ve lost our way. And good luck with trying to turn the Republican party against mountain top removal….The Bush admin blocked two efforts to restrict this practice over the last eight years.
10 Michael T // Mar 8, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I registered at NewMajority.com to respond to this post. Republicans’ awful environmental policies over the last twenty years have made this Appalachian vote Democrat recently. Please — PLEASE — urge your fellow conservatives to end MTR. It is destroying the land where my ancestors have lived for over two hundred years.
11 lennykohm // Oct 31, 2009 at 11:41 am
David, sadly Senator McCain has backpedaled on his pledge to end mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. The Senator has repeatedly been invited to become a cosponsor of the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696), and so far has refused.
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