Reagan Climate Ad Campaign Expands to Five States

June 1, 2010

Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), a national grassroots organization, announces the launch of its "What Would Reagan Do" radio ad campaign in Alaska, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia.

The ads, which include clips from Ronald Reagan's speeches, honor the former president's memory as a conservationist and remind listeners that good environmental stewardship, including action to address climate change, is a core conservative value—one that is overlooked by radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

In recent weeks, the ads have aired in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, but this five-state run is the largest yet.

"Radical talk radio entertainers peddle the false notion that conservatives should oppose environmental stewardship. They're wrong and there is no better way to show that they're wrong by reminding Americans about the words and actions of President Reagan," David Jenkins, REP's vice president for government and political affairs, said.

"We want people to remember Reagan's leadership in negotiating the Montreal Protocol treaty, which began the phase-out of ozone depleting chemicals and has done more to safeguard the earth's atmosphere than any other law or treaty ever passed," Jim DiPeso, REP's vice president for policy and communication, said.

"Too often, Reagan is not remembered for his environmental accomplishments. The political left refuses to give him the credit that he deserves, while some on the right ignore his environmental legacy because it doesn't fit with the image of Reagan that they cultivate to support their extremist agendas," Jenkins said.

In conjunction with the radio ad campaign, REP and its sister organization ConservAmerica have launched the website www.climateconservative.org, which provides information about climate change and explains why responsible stewardship of our climate is conservative. The site also allows visitors to listen to the ads and read the entire speeches that Reagan quotes used in the ads come from.

"We are reminding the public, and especially our fellow conservatives, that despite what they hear from talk radio showmen, climate change is real and conservatives have, as Reagan said, 'a great moral responsibility' to take prudent action in defense of future generations," DiPeso said.

REP's ads are airing during morning and afternoon drive times.

If we've learned any lessons during the past few decades, perhaps the most important is that preservation of our environment is not a partisan challenge; it's common sense. Our physical health, our social happiness, and our economic well-being will be sustained only by all of us working in partnership as thoughtful, effective stewards of our natural resources.

Ronald Reagan, July 11, 1984