Boston Herald
January 24, 2008
 
Recently I sent a few questions* to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who co-wrote, ‘A Contract with the Earth,’ with Terry L. Maple. I was pleased to hear back from the former speaker whose book is largely intended to encourage more people to take a greater interest in environmental issues and to help people with divergent views find common ground on how to go about protecting the Earth. Here is that e-mail interview:
 
Green World: Can you explain what you mean by ‘bipartisan environmentalism’ in your book?
 
Newt Gingrich: Terry Maple and I have argued in our book “A Contract with the Earth” that the environment is too important to be left to one party, particularly one that endorses big government as the answer to our problems. We believe that both major parties have to find common ground to break the gridlock that is preventing real change to renew the earth. We advocate civil debate and real intellectual engagement to find entrepreneurial, market-based solutions to challenging environmental problems.
 
How can one know for sure what is objective science in such a highly charged political world?
 
First, we need to strengthen our basic foundation of science and math education in public schools. Citizens need to be better prepared to evaluate data when presented to them in an argument. We must demand objectivity on the part of those who report on science in the media. Often the reporters are not well-educated on science so they don’t know the difference, for example, between correlation and cause. Some Reporters like to write stories that scare people. We must hold the media to high standards of objectivity and honesty.
 
How would you suggest getting young people more involved in environmentalism when they grow up in a throwaway culture?
 
Mainstream environmentalism is something entire families can embrace. There is a lot that we can do in our communities as we have discussed in our book, from setting up backyard habitats, monitoring migratory bird populations, and promoting recycling at school, in the workplace, and at home. There is huge potential for young people to reject the dominant “throwaway culture” and, through the marketplace, support ideas, concepts, and programs that lead to a sustainable, renewable culture. On the strength of their consumerism, young people can help to change the world they live in.
 
Your book says that doomsday alarmism, exaggerated or not, just doesn’t work as well as a more optimistic entrepreneurial approach to environmentalism. Can you explain?
 
Doomsday scenarios create a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. We can’t improve our world by giving up; instead we need to be inspired to action through shared optimism expressed by bold, confident leaders.
 
How can a local approach to the environment be superior to a federal approach when many regions could simply exploit whatever resources they have at the expense of the environment?
 
We believe in the inherent honesty and goodness of our fellow citizens. We also believe that those who are closest to a problem understand what needs to be done to quickly fix it. Grass roots environmentalism is working all over this country. Government bureaucracies, especially at the distant federal level, are way too slow to satisfy our need to renew our natural resources, so we need to create effective public-private partnerships at the source. Entrepreneurs solve problems much faster than bureaucrats.

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