GOP and the Environment

by Stan Perrin, REP member in Illinois
published in the Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL March 22, 2008

As a Republican and as an environmentalist, I am proud that our party’s presidential candidate is Sen. John McCain.

McCain was the only candidate who understands the connection between conservative values and environmental stewardship.

Pollution is waste. Waste and inefficiency go against Republican principles. Our party needs to reclaim the high ground on environmental concerns from the Democratic party and make the environment bipartisan as it was for most of our nation’s history.

A national environmental organization gave McCain a “zero” score for missing some Senate votes.

That is misleading. He did not vote against the environment. While vigorously campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, McCain unfortunately missed some votes. But the scorekeepers unfairly assigned the same zero whether a senator voted against the environment or missed the vote.

McCain was disadvantaged as the only Republican candidate who also was a U.S. senator. He needed to campaign nonstop – like his opponents. He did not have the luxury of returning to Washington for those votes. If he could have been present for the votes, the score would have been high.

But McCain would not have become the Republican nominee. America will be better for his environmental leadership upon becoming president.