The Case for Green Conservatism

The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose and method. - President Theodore Roosevelt

[There is an] absolute necessity of waging all-out war against the debauching of the environment. - Governor Ronald Reagan, First Earth Day, 1970

First, I’d like to thank the Redstate community for providing a forum not just for me, but for any citizen with an idea they want to share. I believe America is facing a slate of challenges that, taken together, are as formidable as any our country has faced since the civil war. We need every American helping develop a generation of American Solutions to meet those challenges. Communities like Redstate will be an integral part of inspiring and channeling the creative energy of the country. This note is the first of many I intend to post here. Think of it as a note between colleagues intended to promote discussion and debate.

Today I want to emphasize the need to develop a “green conservatism”. I would like to elicit feedback that I will use to inform my speech tonight at EcoVision 2007, which will be webcast LIVE at www.AmericanSolutions.com starting at 7pm. I will be speaking around 8pm ET. I will also use later comments to help develop a speech for the Pennsylvania Conservative Conference in Harrisburg this coming Saturday.

I believe we are seeing the beginning of a three-way split in American politics. The three groups are: the left wing machine; the “stand pat” Republicans; and the supporters of “American Solutions.” I’ve written about this split before in my weekly newsletter. It applies across many issues but for now, let’s focus on the environment.

The Left Wing Machine. The first group is those on the left who believe that only big government, big litigation, high taxes, and big regulation are appropriate answers for our environmental challenges.

The “Stand Pat” Republicans. The second group is those on the right who have grown so weary of the left using the environment as an emotional tool to push higher taxes and bigger government that they reflexively ignore or deny environmental challenges.

American Solutions. The third group – the group that I believe is the future of the American conservative movement, and indeed the future of American politics – are those who favor a “green conservatism” - an optimistic, positive, science and technology based, entrepreneurial, market-oriented, incentive-led, conservative environmentalism that creates more solutions faster and that will result in more biodiversity with less pollution and a safer planet.

As conservatives, we cannot trap ourselves into being “Stand Pat” Republicans. If the 2006 election taught us anything, it is that “Stand Pat” Republicans are no match for the left wing machine. This is as true for our environmental challenges as any other issue. In the absence of a clearly articulated “green conservatism,” the left wing machine will win.

Aside from the political ramifications, there is also the moral imperative of creating a future in which children in America and, indeed, all over the world, enjoy a much higher standard of living through a more vibrant economy and cleaner environments with greater biodiversity.

Values of Green Conservatism

An American Solutions approach will develop a “green conservatism.”

1. Green conservatism favors clean air and clean water.
2. Green conservatism favors maximum biodiversity as a positive good.
3. Green conservatism favors minimizing carbon loading in the atmosphere as a positive public value.
4. Green conservatism is pro-science, pro-technology, and pro-innovation.
5. Green conservatism believes that green prosperity and green development are integral to the successful future of the human race.
6. Green conservatism believes that economic growth and environmental health are compatible in both the developed and developing world.
7. Green conservatism believes that we can realize more positive environmental outcomes faster by shifting tax code incentives and shifting market behavior than is possible from litigation and regulation.

As a key part of green prosperity and green development, there has to be a green energy strategy which is designed to enable the human race to make the transition from historic fossil fuels which dramatically improved the quality of life over the pre-industrial period to a new clean generation of energy which will: enable us in national security terms to be liberated from dependence on dangerous dictatorships; enable us in economic terms to be effective in worldwide competition; and enable us in environmental terms to provide for a much cleaner and healthier future.

Reliable, affordable energy is indispensable to economic growth around the planet, and economic growth is essential to a healthier environment. In so many ways both here and abroad, we truly achieve “green through growth”.

Green Conservatism v. Green Bureaucracy and Litigation
A Green Conservatism Is Dedicated to Developing a “Generation of Solutions” -- Powered by the Sheer Scale of Scientific Change and the Application of the Principles of Free Enterprise That Work – To Meet the Environmental Challenges of our Generation

Green Conservatism has fundamentally different characteristics than Green Bureaucracy and Litigation.

Green Conservatism v. Green Bureaucracy and Litigation
Entrepreneurs<---------->Bureaucrats

Incentives<------------>Regulation

Focus on market<------------>Focus on command and control

Focus on tax code as an incentives tool<------>Focus on litigation as a coersion tool

Focus on scientists<------------>Focus on the trial lawyers

Meeting the requirements of a higher standard of living across the planet that minimizes environmental stresses and maximizes biodiversity requires fundamentally different strategies. These include replacing process with prizes in our scientific research investments and developing a system of carbon reduction tax credits powerful enough to make it a financially appealing for companies to switch to green technologies.

We must also insist that scientific data and facts be the foundation of public policy development. We need to develop a transparent system that aggregates all the environmental data being gathered worldwide into a single data set that is available to everyone. Arguments about analysis and scientific dissent should be encouraged in the pursuit of thorough analytical understanding of the complexities of our environmental system.

Help Me Launch a “Green Conservatism” Tonight

I will be discussing these themes and laying out specifics over the coming months, starting tonight at EcoVision 2007, an event being held this week in Washington, DC. You can watch the event LIVE tonight from your computer at www.americansolutions.com starting at 7pm ET. I will speak around 8pm.

Throughout the day my staff will be emailing your feedback to this note which I’ll use to inform my address tonight. I will also respond to some when I can, which will be posted here. I look forward to engaging in this dialogue with you to further develop green conservatism as well as American Solutions for all America’s challenges.

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Comments

By jhitchco @ Thursday, May 01, 2008 9:23 AM

I agree with your efforts Newt, and as a conservative conservationist I agree that conservation transcends politics. But I would like to point out, when it comes to rulemaking and laws protecting the habitat, some are needed to persuade industry to comply. For example, our organization in Florida - UW-F www.unitedwaterfowlersfl.org has become deeply involved in water conservation in Florida. Waterfowl require healthy aquatic systems to thrive. We all do. The biggest threat to our water resources and habitat here in Florida is nutrient pollution. Key to addressing nutrient pollution is the establishment of various laws which dictate acceptable nutrient limits statewide, such as those set for Phosphorous in the Everglades (10 ppb). Without legislation establishing and setting these numbers, clean water will never be achieved. The Clean Water Act is at the center of this issue. More specifically, another example relates to our efforts regarding the lawn turf fertilizer debate currently ongoing. Florida Department of Agriculture has not significantly addressed these issues, nor has the related industries. Without legislation, we feel the proper levels of nutrients in ground water and surface water acceptable to native habitat will also not be achieved. Pressure via legislation and rulemaking are required, in our opinion, to get government to address these issues significantly enough, that it will convince industry to “see the light”.

John Hitchcock
VP/Secretary, United Waterfowlers-Florida

By Empedocles @ Monday, April 21, 2008 2:39 PM

Over the past decade, conservatism has mutated into a form that is barely recognizable from its historical roots. Traditional conservatism has imploded, it has evolved into a nightmare version of itself that is barely recognizable: the conservative loyalty to independent capitalism epitomized by small business owners morphed into uncritical subservience to soulless international corporatism, the conservative emphasis on faith and religion morphed into "faith based" government programs, the traditional rod and gun conservationists were jettisoned to big oil, coal, and gas interests, the traditional belief in low taxes morphed into record deficits and debt. Debt, waste, pollution, deficits, and big government have become the legacy of a conservatism that treats its principles piecemeal and drifts away without any foundation. I would like to suggest that the the GOP can tie all of its chaotic competing principles back together, and re-emerge with a message for the 21st century, by focusing on the common concept of sustainability--the GOP should become the party of sustainability and all political issues framed and evaluated on this basis. It is sustainability, I believe, that is the bedrock conservative principle that ties the others together. Massive trade and budget deficits are unsustainable, unchecked population growth from immigration is unsustainable, unbalanced budgets are unsustainable, reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable, community destroying sprawl is unsustainable. In becoming the "sustainability" party the GOP can put the "conserve" back in "conservative", give the party a much needed environmental platform, attract middle class voters who are worried about unchecked development destroying their communities, and bring back the rod and gun and other old-time Republicans who remember when the GOP was the party of environmental conservation. In focusing on sustainability, the GOP can speak about immigration in a way that answers the inevitable charges of racism. In focusing on sustainability, the party can create a popular energy policy that does not look like Republicans are the party of coal, oil, and gas. And by emphasizing sustainability Republicans can get back their reputation as the party of fiscal responsibility. I believe, sustainability will be the issue of the 21st century and the party that captures the issue and can speak of it with the most conviction will be the one that dominates. I hope that the powers-that-be in the GOP heed my advice.
The Democratic party is primarily made up of minority groups, consumer advocacy groups, lawyers, and environmentalists. If Republicans want to widen their base, which of these groups would be easiest to attract? Bush and Rove obviously decided early on that of these groups it was Hispanics that they were going to try to "peel off." This has failed. It seems to me that it is environmentalists which would be most likely to move to the Republican side, although it would not be easy given how much they have burned their bridges with environmentalists over the last 25 years. But there is still the legacy of U.S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon (who, although perhaps begrudgingly, created the EPA, passed the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act) to build on. It will not be easy especially as Bush and Cheney have been dong all they can to quietly dismantle environmental protections and weaken enforcement efforts. Environmentalists are not likely to trust Republicans for some time. But the effort should be made to begin to build trust. It can not be done half-heartedly, or with a "me too" spirit that would give environmentalists no real reason to prefer Republicans. Democrats have not been concentrating on environmental issues so now is the perfect time to seize the initiative. There are 4 traditional Republican traits that can provide the foundation of a Republican environmental platform:
1. Republicans are traditionally the party of law and order. Thus enforcement of existng environmental laws should be emphasized.
2. The Christian "creation care" movement seeks to protect God's creation, especially endangered species. There is no reading of the story of Noah's ark that can support the view that God wants his creatures to go extinct.
3. Republicans have a traditional alliance with the "rod and gun" crowd. Trout Unlimted and Ducks Unlimited have been trying to protect duck breeding ground and fish spawning ground. These efforts should be supported.
4. The suburbs have traditionaly been Republican strongholds. Thus the concern of suburbanites over suburban sprawl should be addressed.

By Capitalist Pauper @ Tuesday, October 30, 2007 2:26 PM

Newt, when you bought a Contract With America tear out page in TV Guide, I took the page to a party where the guests were all Libertarians who seldom voted. The Contract excited them and they all promised to vote.
If you put the new principles on a tear out page in TV Guide, you will sell your book and your ideas.

By Capitalist Pauper @ Tuesday, October 30, 2007 2:25 PM

By kcolfer @ Tuesday, October 30, 2007 11:16 AM

Newt, its about time a mainstream conservative took up the environmentalist banner. The definition of conservative is in part derived from "conservation". I'm a conservative wildlife biologist, which most of my friends think is a contradiction in terms. If you need any professional assistance, please email me. I assume that your website knows my email address.

Thanks for getting it started!

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