REP brings together Republicans who care about the environment and the world we will leave for our children and grandchildren. We believe a healthy environment and healthy economy are both necessary to America’s prosperity. We believe Republicans bring a pragmatic focus on finding cost-effective solutions to our environmental problems that rely on American ingenuity and know-how.

It is essential that we have Republican lawmakers who understand that natural resource protection is critical to our quality of life.  They must recognize that there is nothing conservative about policies enabling pollution, waste and greed to go unchecked, and that truly wild places inspire self-reliance, personal responsibility, and spiritual renewal in a world where those values are constantly under assault.

REP works to unite and empower Republican voters, candidates and elected officials who defend our environment and natural resources, while forcefully challenging anti-environment Republicans and their misguided policies. By doing so, REP can change the political landscape in America and make natural resource protection a truly bi-partisan endeavor.  Only then can lasting progress be made to reduce air and water pollution, protect wildlife habitat, and find sustainable energy solutions.

Climate Change

In the face of overwhelming scientific consensus, compelling physical evidence and the serious consequences of inaction, we still have far too many Republicans unwilling to face the problem. Some refuse to even acknowledge that there is a problem, while others are in denial about man’s culpability and the role played by the burning of fossil fuels.

Addressing climate change is ideally suited for GOP conservatives; in fact, it is difficult to imagine a problem that is more in need of traditional conservative leadership. Conservatism’s greatest strength is the moral obligation it demands of present generations to restrain their physical appetites, treat the world with reverence and protect the inheritance of future generations.

Climate change, even with current impacts in evidence, is a problem that requires a long view. Edmund Burke – the father of modern conservatism – cautioned that the earth’s “temporary possessors” must not be “unmindful…of what is due posterity” or “think it among their rights to cut off the entail, or commit waste on the inheritance…hazarding to leave to those who come after them a ruin instead of a habitation.”

One would think that, just as conservative Republicans rose to help address the great environmental challenges of the twentieth century, including water pollution, smog, acid rain, ozone depletion and the need to protect many of America’s most spectacular landscapes, conservatives would again rise to meet this current challenge.

If they are true to their conservative creed, they should not only want to fully understand climate change and its impacts, they should be eager to find effective solutions and address the problem early on – before the severity of the problem requires a more drastic and costly response.

Unfortunately many self-professed conservatives have allowed business community concerns about near-term profitability to dominate their thinking, they have become myopic, losing perspective on what is in the best interest of society as a whole.

Republicans who are true conservatives need to rise to the challenge presented by climate change. They must put an end to the reckless politics of denial that has impeded action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and stand up to special interest agendas that are inconsistent with responsible stewardship and prudence –values that are at the heart of what it means to be a conservative.