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Conservative Conservationist

by Paul Kavitz, a REP member in Oakton, Virginia
published in the Vienna (VA) Connections on October 19, 2006

First of all my bent: I am a pro-environment conservative. Though this may sound paradoxical given the partisan rhetoric currently polarizing environmental issues as either ‘pro-nature or ‘pro-business’, one should remember that the foundation of America’s environmental laws arose within the conservative Republican administrations of Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Nixon.

If we likened our planet’s wealth of natural resources (forests, fish, soil, water, air) to one giant bank account, it would be valued at trillions of dollars per year. Not only are these resources critical to our lives, they are critical to our livelihoods, forming the foundation of diverse industries like agriculture, fisheries and pharmaceuticals. Best of all, this natural bank account generates substantial interest each year. Our air and water are naturally cleaned, our fish stocks and forests regrow, so that until recent times, our primary industries continued to grow, drawing upon this interest without depleting the principal.

Today, however, the powerful engines of our successful economy draw down not only the annual interest, but dip deeper and deeper into the principal. Every year we consume more natural services than the world has the ability to regenerate. The impact? A smaller bank balance and reduced annual interest. Doing this, decade after decade, squanders our children’s inheritance.

Conservative principles compel us to encourage economic growth, but in a way that we live only "on the interest" of our natural bank account and actively ween ourselves from "dipping into the principal." This is the essence of sustainable development.

Despite the perception that the entire Republican Party is at war with the environment, courageous and dedicated Republican senators and congressmen have been stalwart defenders of the public interest. I invite my fellow conservative conservationists to visit the Republicans for Environmental Protection site, www.rep.org, and review the environmental scorecard of our Republican legislators seeking re-election this year and in particular Tom Davis.

Congressman Tom Davis has the best conservation voting record across his Republican peers in Virginia. While I appreciate Democratic challenger Andrew Hurst for his emphasis of environmental themes in the recent debate, he was unfair and uninformed with his criticism of Mr. Davis’ environmental record. Mr. Davis regularly votes to support sound environmental policy and is in this regard he remains in touch with his constituents' concerns. Mr. Davis should be recognized for his good work defending conservation values and encouraged to raise the bar in the 110th Congress.

The enormous issues of global warming and environmental restoration can only be resolved if we have bipartisan support at the national level of the conservation agenda. Conservatives ought to reflect upon their values and conservation heritage this election season.