Can the Republican Party turn green and still be the conservative party? The members of Republicans for Environmental Protection believe so. The San Antonio Express-News profiles the organization's new efforts in Texas.
I interrupt to add that the Clean Air Act was accomplished by the first President Bush, a Republican from Texas.The National Park System. The Clean Water Act. The Environmental Protection Agency. Each ranks among the country's greatest environmental achievements. They all also were championed by Republicans, albeit decades - or, in the case o the first - almost a century ago.
Environmentally active Republicans may seem like an oxymoron to some, but one group is working hard to return a tinge of green to the Grand Old Party, even in the reddest of red states. Republicans for Environmental Protection opened a fledgling chapter in Texas in April, and is involved in its first legislative session in the Lone Star State.
The Texas group doesn't have any professional lobbyists and boasts only 200 members, but chapter president Pam Ragon thinks the state offers a fertile environment for the organization to grow. Its main focus this session will be park funding, water issues and slowing the state's rush to build a fleet of new coal-fired power plants.
"I think if you ask your average person on the street who is a Republican if they care about clean air or parks, they would say 'yes,'" said the Dallas area investment banker. "Our motto is conservation is conservative."
Only time will tell how effective the group will be in greening Texas Republicans. But it already has butted heads with the state's top Republican - Gov. Rick Perry - on one hot-button issue. It has asked the governor to rescind his controversial order that requires state agencies to fast-track permits for new coal-fired power plants. At last count, there are 19 proposed or approved new plants.
The group doesn't seem to have caused much of a ripple within the party apparatus. Spokesmen with Perry's office and the Republican Party of Texas said they hadn't heard of them.
The group doesn't seem to have caused much of a ripple within the party apparatus. Spokesmen with Perry's office and the Republican Party of Texas said they hadn't heard of them.
Tom Smith, a longtime observer of Texas politics who heads the state office of the Public Citizen advocacy group, thinks that will change as environmental issues continue to gain prominence in Texas politics. He's quick to point out that the organization has some deep pockets.
It lists Dallas real estate magnate Trammell S. Crow on its national board of directors. Policy Director Jim DiPeso said Crow had made donations to the group totaling in the "six figures," and has pledged more as it grows. Republican consultant Royal Masset said there could be room for a group of environmental Republicans in Texas, but said it's going to have to tread a fine line to not alienate the party.
"The green environment is not now a big Republican priority," Masset said. "In fact, our state platform talks much more about protecting property rights from environmental regulations than doing anything about the environment."
Among the potential pitfalls, Masset said the group can't trounce on the core Republican values of private property, free markets or limited government. It also can't ally itself too closely with environmental groups that many in the party have long viewed as enemies.
However, it is possible to craft market-based policies that are environment-friendly - and there's no reason the Left should hold a monopoly on "green" issues. Rather than rushing to permit 19 more coal-fired power plants, Texas Republicans should be pushing for tax and regulatory policies that create incentives for the growth of the alternative energy sector, boosting the economy and jobs while helping keep the environment cleaner. I've drive across large swaths of West Texas - even lived in West Texas for three years. There's few places better for harvesting wind energy and solar energy.
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