Here’s what important conservative voices have to say:

Environmental concern is the price of admission to any kind of discussion with the young. John McCain has understood that—the rest of his party needs to follow. Almost every major piece of environmental legislation enacted since 1970 has been signed by a Republican president. This is our party’s history. Let’s reclaim it.
—“Why the GOP Lost the Youth Vote,” David Frum, USA Today, April 9, 2008

Conservatives must return to the philosophical sources of our tradition and reinterpret its insights and truths for the world we live in now. Ideas really do have consequences—as, obviously, does the lack of same… The GOP’s knee-jerk hostility to environmental concerns is not only a betrayal of conservative tradition but also costs Republicans credibility with young voters.
—“Here Comes the Conservative Civil War,” Rod Dreher (author of Crunchy Cons and a speaker at REP’s 2007 Republican Environmental Leadership Conference), Dallas Morning News, November 7, 2008

To regain traction, [the Republican Party] must re-invent itself as a party of hope and of ideas relevant
to a wider range of Americans. To do so, it must reject the partisan conservative media that peddles in political stereotypes and personal venom. It cannot fall into the trap of being only an opposition party whose primary focus is designing “wedge” issues, such as a call for more offshore oil drilling, simply to split Democrats.
—“Do Republicans Have a Yes, We Can?” Christian Science Monitor editorial, November 7, 2008

The Reformers propose new policies to address inequality and middle-class economic anxiety. They tend to take global warming seriously. They tend to be intrigued by the way David Cameron has modernized the British Conservative Party.
—“Darkness at Dusk,” David Brooks, The New York Times, November 10, 2008

Voters ages 18–29 voted Democratic by a 2-to-1 margin. A market-oriented “green” agenda that’s true to our principles would help win them back.
—“A Way Out of the Wilderness,” Karl Rove, Newsweek, November 15, 2008

[Utah Governor Jon] Huntsman singled out the environment as one issue that was doing severe damage to the party, especially among younger voters, who supported Obama by overwhelming numbers. “We as Republicans can’t shy away from speaking the word ‘environment,’ and we shouldn’t shy away from speaking the words ‘climate change,’ ” Huntsman told reporters. “When you’ve got a body of science that already is rendering certain judgments about what is happening in our world, for us to shy away, say it doesn’t matter as an issue, I think is foolhardy, it’s shortsighted and it’s bound to do us damage in the longer term.”
—“Republicans Ask: Just How Bad Is It?” Politico, November 17, 2008

There are new principles too that must be included in a majority conservatism: environmental protection as a core value and an unwavering insistence upon competence and integrity in government.
—David Frum’s Diary, National Review Online, November 18, 2008