‘Republicans for Environmental Protection’ - Endangered Species?
After watching Republican leaders in Congress last week stick with “same old” approaches to rising energy prices ( extract, baby, extract ) and climate science ( what, me worry? ), I began to wonder whether the group Republicans for Environmental Protection should be put forward as a candidate for the Endangered Species Act.
This group, while holding to traditional conservative values, has positions on energy and the environment that are substantially in sync with those of many Democrats and independents.
Given how party leaders appear to have utterly caved in to the far right on energy and the environment, I sent a note to the group’s leadership this week, asking how they saw their role going forward. My questions, along with replies from David Jenkins, the vice president for government and political affairs, are below.
I started by noting the group’s own harsh critique of its party’s leadership these days, particularly in the House, which you can read here: “House Falls Prey to Anti-Environmental Extremism.” I also noted that its position paper on climate and energy, supporting a cap and trade approach, seemed out of date. (It’s being updated, Jenkins told me.)