Theodore Roosevelt

Peter Dykstra: Putting the “conserve” back in “conservative”

At least mild environmental concern from Republican leadership is long overdue.

Last Sunday, an influential British conservative sent up a red flag in the Times of London. Sensing a sharp turn in the policy direction of new Prime Minister Liz Truss, William Hague wrote “conservatives must always be environmentalists.”


In other words, the British Right is in deep trouble if it follows the path of America’s Right.

But — from Teddy Roosevelt to Richard Milhous Nixon to Ronald Reagan — it wasn’t always that way here.

So, in this sharply divided country, how do we get back to a time when millions of us don’t equate clean air with bad taste? Maybe a tour of more than a century of Republican history could guide us.

Even a few (but not all) GOP leaders with overall lousy environmental track records make the list.

The Lacey Act 

Congress passed, and President William McKinley signed, the Lacey Act – the distant forerunner of the U.S. Endangered Species Act — in 1900.

The issue of the day was the plumage coveted for ladies’ hats. Lacey set sharp limits on the taking of feathery birds, and the importation of birds killed for their plumage.

"What nature once so bountifully supplied"

Teddy Roosevelt was the eco superstar of his day, ushering in the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and more. In 1907, he issued “A Message to the Schoolchildren of the United States," saying, in part, "We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted.”

From the EPA to the Clean Air Act 

The president who once said that environmentalists wanted to “live like a bunch of damn animals,” had an impressive string of environmental achievements. President Richard Nixon signed laws that created the Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, limited pesticide use and required environmental impact statements for development projects.

He also signed the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act but vetoed the Clean Water Act as too expensive. Congress overrode that veto.

Montreal Protocol 

In 1987, the world’s nations gathered in Montreal to hammer out a solution to a recently discovered growing menace: the ozone hole over Antarctica, caused by ozone-depleting chemicals. The Montreal Protocol was supported by President Ronald Reagan (as well as fellow conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher). The protocol has reversed ozone damage as one of the few truly effective global environmental treaties.

Reagan’s successor was his Vice President, George H. W. Bush. As president, he signed into law powerful improvements to Nixon’s Clean Air Act.

Then came Newt

In the 1970’s, an ambitious professor at West Georgia College raised some hell as advisor to the campus Sierra Club. Elected to Congress on his second try, Newton Leroy Gingrich learned there was no path to House Speaker for a GOP treehugger.

The 1994 Newt Gingrich rode his anti-regulatory Contract With America to the Speaker’s chair and a couple of failed presidential bids.

Even W.

George W. Bush, considered by environmentalists to have an awful track record, scored green points by backing several sprawling marine protected areas in the Pacific.

Then came the Tea Party, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that surrendered the last shred of integrity in campaign financing, and the Trump era. Climate denial became a Merit Badge for rising Republicans. Climate concern vanished from the speeches and deeds of Romney, McCain, Christie, Jindal, and a dozen more. Even Sarah Palin, in her brief turn as Alaska governor, created a “Climate Sub-Cabinet” to help prepare her vulnerable state. The sub-cabinet never met, and it quietly disappeared after Palin resigned.

At least mild concern from Republican leadership is long overdue. Let’s hope it’s science, reason and integrity that bring it back, and not the next wave of droughts, wildfires, or Hurricane Ians.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher Environmental Health Sciences.

Tom's Restaurant sign on a corner diner on Broadway in New York City.

NASA shutters iconic New York climate lab as Trump slashes Earth science budget

A once-vital NASA climate lab perched above Manhattan’s Tom’s Restaurant will shut down at the end of May, displacing scientists and reflecting the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle federal climate research.

Oliver Milman reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
A vehicle exhaust pipe with smoke emitting from it.

Senate GOP maneuvers to block California’s plan to ban gas cars by 2035

Republicans in the Senate used a controversial procedural tactic to advance legislation that would block California from enforcing its planned ban on new gasoline-powered vehicle sales by 2035, challenging both state environmental authority and longstanding Senate rules.

Carl Hulse reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
Purple flowers with the U.S. senate building in the background.

EPA chief clashes with Senate Democrats over Trump-era cuts to pollution and health programs

A bitter Senate hearing erupted into shouting as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin defended sweeping grant cuts and environmental rollbacks under President Trump, sparring with Democrats over transparency and health impacts.

Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less
View of the coast of American Samoa with lush, tree-covered coastal hills and the ocean below.
Credit: Pixabay

U.S. backs plan to explore deep-sea mining near American Samoa amid legal and environmental concerns

A California company’s bid to mine the seafloor near American Samoa gained momentum after the U.S. Interior Department agreed to review its proposal following a Trump administration order to fast-track seabed mining.

Max Bearak reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
A downed tree in the middle of a city street.

Tornadoes tear through Black neighborhoods in St. Louis as FEMA delays and warning systems fail

A deadly tornado system ravaged Black neighborhoods in St. Louis, exposing long-standing failures in emergency alert infrastructure and the federal government’s disaster response.

Adam Mahoney reports for Capital B News.

Keep reading...Show less
silhouette of people standing on tower crane during night time.

New climate plans could spur economic growth, says UN climate chief

Strong climate action, not delay, is the key to stabilizing a global economy rocked by droughts, hunger, and rising prices, the UN’s top climate official said this week.

Fiona Harvey reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
blue lake with glacier in the middle of the mountains.

As glaciers vanish, salmon gain new habitat and mining companies race for gold

Salmon are moving into lakes and streams newly formed by melting glaciers in Alaska and British Columbia, even as mining firms rush to exploit mineral-rich lands newly exposed by retreating ice.

Max Graham reports for Grist.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.