Not a One-party Issue

by Stan Perrin, a member of the Illinois REP Executive Committee
published in the Northwest Herald, June 26, 2008

Re: James Zoes' June 22 letter.

Zoes pointed out that a sizable majority of Republican members of the U.S. House favor off-shore drilling and exploitation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

This shows how much work needs to be done to reclaim our Republican Party's rightful place as the party of conservation.

Fortunately, our party's likely presidential candidate is John McCain, who when president will work to restore bipartisanship to environmental and energy issues, rather than allow Democrats to assert ownership.

McCain is sage enough to recognize that ANWR is a treasure to preserve for future generations, not some booty to plunder.

How many Northwest Herald readers remember that it was a Republican president, Dwight Eisenhower who established ANWR?

True, McCain did propose lifting the federal moratorium on off-shore drilling, which would return control to the states. This is Republican environmentalism, solving problems at the lowest possible unit of government. The Republican governors of California and Florida are unlikely to risk drilling off their states' sizable coastlines.

Democrat Barack Obama has pandered to special interests in promoting Illinois corn (for ethanol production) and coal as energy "solutions."

McCain will be an effective environmental president. Learn the truth, visit www.rep.org. Conservation is conservative.