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.

Donald Trump
Credit: palinchak/Big Stock Photo

The clock is ticking on Trump's ability to challenge the hydrogen tax credit

Over 100 organizations are asking Congress to keep the credit.

President Donald Trump has the opportunity to challenge the Biden administration’s hydrogen tax credit rules under the Congressional Review Act, but the clock is ticking.

The act only allows for changes within 60 days of the rules’ publication. On March 4, time will run out.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
Former US President Joe Biden speaks at a podium with a blue background and British and UN flags alongside him.
Credit: COP26/Flickr

FBI probes alleged fraud in Biden's $20 billion climate fund

The FBI is investigating contested accusations of fraud within the Biden administration's $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, questioning Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees about the program's oversight and fund allocation.

Spencer S. Hsu, Maxine Joselow, and Nicolás Rivero report for The Washington Post.

Keep reading...Show less
A view of a hurricane as seen from space, with the arm of satellite equipment.
Credit: NASA Johnson/Flickr

Global backlash after mass terminations at NOAA and National Weather Service

The Trump administration has initiated significant layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, sparking widespread concern among scientists and environmental advocates.

Grace Toohey reports for the Los Angeles Times.

Keep reading...Show less
The U.S. capitol building in Washington, DC on a sunny day.

Trump accelerates fossil fuel expansion as Democrats push back

President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency has fast-tracked oil and gas development by easing environmental regulations. Democrats are mounting legal challenges.

Michael Phillis and Jennifer McDermott report for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
Factory smoke coming out of smokestacks of an industrial building

House moves to block fee on methane emissions

The House voted 220-206 to overturn a Biden-era rule that enforces a fee on excess methane emissions from oil and gas companies, a move that may advance in the Senate but will require additional legislation to fully dismantle the program.

Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less
Researchers on skates drag equipment across the ice.

U.S. layoffs in polar research spark concerns over global presence

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has cut staff in its Office of Polar Programs, raising concerns about the future of U.S. scientific research and strategic presence in Antarctica and the Arctic.

Raymond Zhong reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
European flags with yellow stars in a circle on a blue background, outside the European Commission building.

Europe moves to ease corporate climate reporting rules

The European Commission has proposed loosening corporate sustainability reporting requirements, exempting most companies currently covered, in an effort to boost economic competitiveness.

Eshe Nelson reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
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.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

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