My name is Martha Marks, and I am the president of Republicans for Environmental Protection. We call it REP for short. REP is a national grassroots organization that has been working for the last dozen years to restore the Republican Party’s great conservation tradition.

Republicans for Environmental Protection’s trademarked slogan is “conservation is conservative,” but we weren’t the first to make that argument. Russell Kirk, one of America’s greatest conservative thinkers, said in 1970: “Nothing is more conservative than conservation.”

In January 2000, I was pleased to stand beside Senator John McCain and announce that REP was endorsing him for president. Now, almost eight years later, I am very glad to have the opportunity to do the same once again.

Senator McCain is the only Republican candidate in this year’s race who shows he understands the connection between conservative values and environmental stewardship. He is the candidate best suited—by knowledge, experience, and conviction—to provide the strong environmental leadership that our country needs.

Senator McCain is also the only Republican candidate who fully comprehends the energy challenges facing our nation. As he showed at a debate last week in Michigan and at a conference yesterday in Manchester, he recognizes the complex role that energy plays in our national security, our economic future, and the health of our environment.

Furthermore, in recent years Senator McCain has become an outstanding leader on the top environmental issue of our time: climate change.

• He held the first-ever Senate hearings on climate change.
• He has taken his colleagues to the ends of the earth, literally, to show them the impacts of climate change and convince them that the problem is real.
• He has reached across the aisle to craft balanced, market-oriented legislation that will stimulate American ingenuity to solve the problem, keep costs down, and maximize benefits.

Senator McCain knows that reducing carbon pollution will improve our security, create jobs in profitable new industries, help farmers, and clean up the air in our cities.

More than any other GOP candidate, Senator McCain knows that the fight against climate change is a conservative cause.

Now... I realize that some may find that idea peculiar.

However, it is truly conservative to take personal responsibility for our actions. It is truly conservative to protect our nation from the dangerous risks of more extreme weather, water shortages, and coastal flooding. It is truly conservative to look out for the well being of future generations.

Unfortunately, in today’s political world, for a conservative Republican to take bold stands on such issues as climate change and natural resource stewardship is also truly courageous.

One hundred years ago, another courageous conservative Republican occupied the White House. Theodore Roosevelt once said: "Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of ensuring the safety and continuance of our nation."

We live in a different world today, but our stewardship challenges are just as great. We need a conservative Republican president who believes, as TR believed, that good stewardship can keep America strong and prosperous into the next century and beyond.

For all these reasons and many more, Republicans for Environmental Protection proudly endorses Senator John McCain for President of the United States. We will work hard to help ensure his nomination and ultimately, his election.

Thank you… and please visit Republicans for Environmental Protection on the web at www.rep.org.