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Pop Quiz: Off the top of your head, name a prominent Republican who talks a good game about the environment.
You know, someone who has proposed a plan to save our planet and has taken action to implement preservation of our natural resources. Someone who has professed his love for Mother Earth, and has not only encouraged Americans to be more Green, but practices what he preaches.
I couldn't think of any, and when I did my research I broke my shovel from all the deep digging. Sadly, it appears that not all Republicans are as concerned about our planet as they should be, in fact they've really only begun to adopt pro-environment stances in the last 12 years.
Here are five of the Greenest Republicans (in no particular order) of past and present.
John Saylor
Saylor was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, elected in 1949. He was reelected to the twelve succeeding Congresses and served until his death in 1973. During his time in Congress he was dedicated to a number of environmental causes, such as the Wilderness Act of 1964.
In his home state of Pennsylvania, he opposed the Kinzua Dam Project. Saylor believed the dam would not have a significant impact upon flood protection in the area and that the project would destroy one of the last unspoiled stretches of the Allegheny River. The Kinzua Dam would also violate a treaty made between the Seneca Nation and the United States in 1794. Eventually the dam was built, but Saylor continued his preservation efforts.
One of his greatest achievements was his Scenic Rivers bill which proposed the protection of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, and made allowances for other "scenic" rivers to be preserved and protected.
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers act was passed in 1968. Saylor received many honors for his work in getting this bill through congress. The John P. Saylor trail at Gallitzin State Forest in Pennsylvania is named after him. The book Green Republican chronicles his life and his personal legacy as an environmental champion.
John Warner
Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia is dedicated to addressing climate change, preserving and restoring our rivers, lakes and oceans, cleaning up hazardous waste and brownfield sites on our land, and improving the quality of the air we breathe. Warner believes these acts are our national responsibility because they directly affect our quality of life and economic health.
Throughout his service in the Senate, Warner has been actively involved in the development of national environmental policies, including the Clean Air Act Amendments, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Chesapeake Bay Restoration program, the Freedom to Farm Act, and Brownfields Revitalization. He has also become active about the issue of global warming.
Warner has worked on legislation for energy reform, which strives to expand domestic production, reduce dependence on foreign oil, promote new technology, enhance conservation and efficiency, encourage alternative and renewable fuels, and do these things while continuing to grow the economy.
He was an important player in passing the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007. This legislation will promote energy efficiency and conservation, and increase fuel economy in cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. While not perfect, the legislation represents an important step forward in reducing America’s dependence on foreign sources of energy.
Currently, Warner and other Republicans are co-sponsoring the America's Climate Security Act, that aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.
John McCain
John McCain is another Republican committed to providing clean air and water, and to conserving open space. He has been vocal about global warming, calling the nation to action to address the issue he feels we can no longer afford to ignore.
The Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP America) believes John McCain is good for the environment based on his Bull Moose Republicanism, a kind of conservative politics that is friendly to the environment, founded by former President Theodore Roosevelt (McCain's hero). Like Roosevelt, McCain believes that we are vested with a sacred duty to be proper stewards of the resources upon which the quality of American life depends.
Since 2003, McCain (along with Senator Joseph Lieberman) has repeatedly introduced bipartisan cap-and-trade legislation that would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He has also introduced the bills the Climate Stewardship Act of 2003, the Climate Stewardship and Innovation
