We are Republicans. We share a deep concern for the environment.
We know that a healthy environment and a sound economy are both essential to our nation’s prosperity.
We believe that by working together, we can preserve both our environment and our economy
for current and future generations of Americans.
We Want:
Clean air and water
Food free from harmful chemicals
Clean, efficient businesses & industries
A high quality of life in our cities & rural communities
Strong, results-oriented enforcement of environmental laws
Economic development for communities without the ravages of sprawl
High priority for funding of natural resource stewardship & environmental protection
Protection for posterity of our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, wild lands & waters
Effective legal protection for threatened & endangered plants & animals in their native habitats
We support and vote for Republican elected officials and candidates who share these values and concerns.
How does REP answer those who believe that no "real Republican" wants to protect the environment or believes in conservation? How do we respond to those who insist that regulatory reform and property rights are more vital than laws to prevent the extinction of species?
1. We point with pride to the great GOP leaders of the past who fought to save natural treasures, signed landmark environmental-protection laws, and established many of the policies we take for granted today. We remember Teddy Roosevelt, who established our unmatched system of wildlife refuges and national parks. We remind people that Barry Goldwater, the father of conservatism, was a lifelong conservationist (and also a REP America member). We recall that Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and also established the Environmental Protection Agency.
2. We talk of the bi-partisan efforts of previous decades, which eliminated burning rivers, toxic waste dumps, DDT and other environmental horrors. Republicans had no special exemption from polluted air and contaminated water, so they made sure their leaders heeded their concerns.
3. We remind skeptics that nothing is more conservative than conservation. True conservatives should safeguard the resources on which the health, recreation, and economic prosperity of present and future Americans depend. There is nothing conservative—and certainly nothing wise—in squandering our energy, clean air and water, beloved landscapes, wildlife, wilderness, wetlands, and other natural treasures.
If you are a conservation-minded Republican, we invite you to join REP. Help us grow a greener GOP from the ground up!
