Report on 2007 Legislative Session
Missouri REP was heavily involved in working with Missouri Votes Conservation, Sierra Club, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, as well as others in making certain that the 2007 legislative session treated the state's environmental needs in a positive manner. State Coordinator Roy Gerdel says that every bill that REP supported or opposed was decided in REP's favor. This included net metering for renewable energy, local control over concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), sand & gravel removal, and alternative energy. REP did not get everything it wanted but nothing negative was passed. REP is ready to fight again during the next session.
2006
REP President Martha Marks published an op-ed, "Roadless Forests: The Best Deal a Governor Could Make," in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
2005
Roy Gerdel was appointed to fill an open seat on Republicans for Environmental Protection's Board of Directors. He had previously served—and continues to serve—as Missouri State Coordinator.
2002
Roy and Shirley Gerdel, REP members from Glendale, published the following letter to the editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Saving the wilderness is job for Republicans
The May 7 editorial, "Paving Paradise," concerning our wilderness areas was timely. We joined with an activist group from Utah to lobby in Washington, D.C., fo setting aside additional acreage in that state as protected wilderness area. Thebill is the America's Redrock Wilderness Act and would protect some of the wildest and most beautiful acreage in the West.
We spoke with the entire Missouri delegation and receive sponsorship commitments from Reps. Karen KcCarthy and Lacy Clay.
The environment in Congress at this time is very much tilted toward the extraction industries and others who would develop our pristine areas.
As Republicans, we feel there must be a realistic balance between the preservation of our heritage and the need for ever increasing demand on our national treasures. The Republican majorities at both the state and national levels must recall that much of the historical environmental legislation was passed under Republican leadership.
Under Teddy Roosevelt, the national park system wasa founded. Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover added to Roosevelt's legacy. Dwight D. Eisenhower set aside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Richard Nixon's legacy includes the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Environmental Pesticide Control Act, and others.
We implore voters to elect those who will provide the proper stewardship over our national treasures. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.
