Dear President Bush:
Congratulations on a decisive victory in the recent elections.
I too was re-elected last week, to service in the Minnesota House of Representatives in an area that votes predominately for Democrats. One area that has worked for me to reach out to the Democrats is environmental issues. As a member of Republicans for Environmental Protection, I am working to let people know that many Republicans care deeply about our environment. In the past two years I personally carried state legislation dealing with phosphorus reduction, mercury reduction and consumer electronics recycling.
I want you to know that I am ready to do all I can to help you build a positive pro-conservation legacy.
Best wishes to you in your second term as President of the United States of America.
State Representative Ray Cox; Northfield, Minnesota
Dear President Bush:
I voted for you twice, and I congratulate you on your victory.
As a member of Republicans for Environmental Protection, I want to strongly express that environmental protection and the promotion of conservation and renewable energy need to become a priority for all Americans, especially Republicans. This is an issue of national security. Clean, distributed, renewable energy is the energy solution for the 21st Century. We need to move in this direction as quickly as possible, with the help of government in the many appropriate ways that government can help. Government needs to provide incentives for renewable energy and disincentives for fossil fuels to help this transition.
Conservation of our resources is the starting point in any discussion of environmental protection. Everyone needs to play a part in this, and we can collectively save lots of money, energy, and the environment by doing so. I believe that government has a larger role to play in encouraging conservation. This should be a priority for your administration.
Most Americans, including the ones who voted for you, really care about the long-term preservation of our planet. I am very proud of the way you are taking on the War Against Islamofascists (who have declared war on us). Now make us all proud in the way you handle environ- mental issues in your second term.
Thank you and God Bless America.
Michael L. Minaides; Clifton, New Jersey
Dear President Bush:
I am writing as a lifelong Republican who had a tough time at the polls this time but did ultimately vote for you. Your record on environmental issues was the sole reason for my difficulty at voting time.
As a member and supporter of Republicans for Environmental Protection and a concerned citizen, I ask that you revisit your position on environmental issues and follow in the footsteps of Theodore Roosevelt, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon and yes, your own father. Conservation is conservative!
Because she says it far better than I could, I enclose a copy of Martha Marks’ letter to you. Reading it one more time won’t hurt!
Benjamin G. Heilman; Queenstown, Maryland
Dear Mr. President:
Praise the Lord! Our Lord and Savior, in His wisdom and grace, has given you another opportunity to lead a nation founded on principles that were meant to bring Him honor and glory.
I am a “born again” Christian who has for many years supported the ideals of the Republican Party. However, it seems I have a different view from our party. I am a conservationist in that I believe man is to be the caretaker of this planet.
As a business owner, I can appreciate my party doing its best to protect a free market. Laissez faire government, in most instances, is the correct approach. However, our stewardship of God’s creation supercedes any other policy.
To allow businesses to increase their profits at the cost of our nation’s health is not what I believe honors our stewardship responsibilities. Despite Hollywood’s messages that there are other planets for us to inhabit, there is only one Earth! When we have trashed this place, there will be no other place to go.
R. J. “Bob” Sanner II; Hanover, Maryland
Dear President Bush:
Congratulations on your victory. We are pleased to be long-term supporters of the Republican Party and of your administration.
The one area of the party and your administration that we struggle with is the lack of a strong environmental platform. We recently learned of and joined Republicans for Environmental Protection. This organization stands ready to help you build a positive pro-conservation legacy.
The Republican Party needs to recapture the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. We fear that if the party does not at least “neutralize” this issue, then it will hurt us in the long run.
Sharon and Garry Snook; Aspen, Colorado
Dear President Bush:
I was thrilled that you won re-election over John Kerry and enthusiastically supported you throughout the campaign. However, I am an avid proponent of the environment and feel that some policies backed by your administration do not adequately protect the land, air, and water shared by all Americans from abuse by a subset of the population. I feel very strongly that the government’s role should be as small as possible, but protection of our shared environment is a critical role that can only be filled by the government.
I am a proud member of Republicans for Environmental Protection, which includes a number of Republican Members of Congress. We stand ready to help build a positive pro-conservation legacy. Access to quiet undeveloped natural places is essential to the well-being and spirituality of Americans and should not be overlooked in the interest of “economic development.” Once these invaluable resources are lost, they cannot be regained.
Katherine M. Phillips; Blacksburg, Virginia
Dear President Bush:
Congratulations on your re-election as President of this great country. We are proud to be supporters of yours, and we will pray for you each day as you face the joys and burdens of leading the most powerful country in the world.
We write to you today as members of Republicans for Environmental Protection. Conservation of our natural resources is important to us in our avocations as well as our vocations. We know that good conservation does not have to be at the expense of jobs. In fact, the jobs we hold depend upon good stewardship of our nation’s natural resources.
We encourage you and your advisors to turn to REP for help in recapturing the conservation ethic for the Republican Party. Too often, people make the horribly wrong assumption that the Republican Party is all about business and not about conservation. As you well know, the Republican Party has a long history of caring for the environment and our natural resources.
We look forward to the next four years and your leadership in returning conservation to the Republican Party. Remember, Conservation is Conservative!
Claudia and David Emken; Yates City, Illinois
Dear Mr. President:
As a lifelong Republican, a sportsman, and a member of Republicans for Environmental Protection, I am writing to ask you to help reunite this country by making a strong commitment to conservation of our natural resources.
The state of our environment was not one of the top election issues, but that does not mean that people do not care about it. Rather, they assume it will be protected. Environmental issues have been among the most divisive during your first administration, and I respectfully ask that you ensure that this does not continue.
Conservation is bipartisan. Republicans are strong conservationists. And REP stands ready to help you build a conservation legacy. Please don’t squander this opportunity.
Ronald Freed; Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Dear President Bush:
As a member of Republicans for Environmental Protection and an active citizen environmentalist in Colorado for 35 years, I congratulate you on your re-election. I realize that the environment did not play a major role in the last election, but I do know that poll after poll tell us that the environment is an important issue with major portions of the public.
In Colorado, not only did the Denver and Front Range voters agree to tax themselves for the expansion of mass transit (an environmental issue) but the entire state voted to require increased amounts of renewable energy (at the potential risk of increased cost to consumers), which also showed a strong vote for the environment.
Your administration has not shown the concern for the environment which I feel is necessary, not only for our immediate concerns but for the livability of the planet for those who come after us. I have hopes that your record on environmental issues during the next four years will greatly improve.
Don Thompson; Alamosa, Colorado
Dear President Bush:
During the campaign, much was made of the fact that Kerry often changed his mind. That was politics. However, changing one’s mind is not always a bad thing. In fact, to never change one’s mind in the face of new evidence or information could be one of the definitions of insanity, or the famous joke: “My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.”
In fact, I’m hoping you will change your mind about something.
People all over the world are concerned about the ever-escalating destruction of the environment. Water and air pollution, deforestation, extinction of species, and overpopulation are things no thinking person can avoid worrying about. These things are not God’s problems; they are our problems. God asked us to be stewards, not destroyers.
As a lifelong Republican, I am a conservative and a conservationist. I support, as best I can, every group that is trying to save land or species. Often I have wondered why we pay taxes with one hand and with the other give money to groups trying to save the country from the government.
I don’t know why the importance of conservation has escaped you, but obviously it has. The policies of people you entrusted with the environment have undone years of work. You yourself have signed on with their policies of spending our natural resources instead of conserving them.
It’s ironical that we accuse the Democrats of “spend, spend, spend,” but that’s exactly what we’re doing with national treasures like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Yellowstone, Eastern lakes ruined by acid rain created by tall stack emissions, rivers fouled by swine and cattle factories, fuel guzzled by the huge vehicles that now replace family cars, etc.
I beg you to think about what kind of world your precious children and future grandchildren will inherit. By changing your environmental positions, be God’s instrument to save the planet.
Joyce Mohun; Goleta, California
Dear President Bush:
I am a former Air Force officer and a member of Republicans for Environmental Protection. I’m urging you to help preserve the rapidly disappearing wild places and open spaces on our public lands and across the nation. As an avid hunter, camper and hiker, I spend many weekends exploring and experiencing our nation’s public lands. We need more of a balance between preservation and development. In a nutshell, we need more designated wilderness areas, protected roadless areas, national parks, national monuments and wildlife refuges to let us escape the noise, pollution, traffic and trappings of civilization that are slowly but surely degrading our way of life.
This nation’s public lands are a vast continental commons, for which we are all responsible and upon which we are all dependent. They encompass the upper reaches of the watersheds that keep our water clean and sustain our lives, the open spaces and wild places that nourish our spirits. They are a rough benchmark of what North America was before the rise of our industrial society. These are places that need to be protected and preserved for future generations, not just developed and plundered for short-term political and economic profit.
I and hundreds of thousands of other Americans who love their country and the wildlands heritage that shaped and molded its people, and their free and democratic way of life, stand ready to assist you in any way, should you ask.
David A. Lien; Colorado Springs, Colorado
