April 22, 1970, celebrated the first Earth Day.
The brainchild of Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wisc., Earth Day was said to have marked the beginning of the environmental movement in North America.
Soon after in 1972, then Republican President Richard Nixon passed some of the most groundbreaking environmental legislation to date, establishing the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act. Both were soon followed by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Why now are we asking, what happened to the conservationist Conservatives, the Republicans like Nixon who cared about the environment? Enter Ronald Reagan, Mr. GOP himself, who said, “A tree’s a tree. How many more do you need to look at?” Thus began the slippery slope of science denying, environment-destroying, pro-business bologna that is the GOP today. Take Ann Coulter who said, “God said, ‘Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It’s yours.’” (Side note: God actually did not say that.)
Currently every Republican, except Mitt Romney, is trying to harness the powers of the Gipper. It’s easy to take a quick look back at Reagan’s environmental record to see why the trees are in such danger now, with everyone courting his spirit. (Correction: That was Romney of 1994 who publicly said he disliked Reagan. Flip-flop prone Romney circa 2012 is currently trying to court Reagan’s ghost like everyone else as well.)
Earth Action President Brent Blackwelder writes that had the 1980 election gone differently, the U.S. would have become a clean energy pioneer but Reagan dashed all hopes. Appointing anti-environmental heads to the EPA, leading to drastic decreases in its budget and enforcement. Lax regulations since then have led to more problems than anyone could have imagined. Poor safety when drilling for oil (which has lead to vast oil spills), the exploitation of public land for the profit of private companies, mining, pollution and pesticides destroy biodiversity effectively wreaking ecosystems.
Conservatives today see the EPA as an evil, overarching, anti-business entity sent to Earth for no better reason than to destroy the economy. Why shouldn’t they? Most conservative politicians are pocketing thousands, some millions, of dollars from big oil, coal and natural gas. It’s natural instinct not to bite the hand that feeds you. If you want the Koch brothers’ money then you have to show them a sufficient return on investment. What easier way to do that than suffocate the agencies that look out for our water, air, forests, food, health and overall future?
A quick trip over to the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee’s websites illustrates just this. Under the issues section the RNC has nothing regarding the environment. A brief one paragraph “energy” section is the closest they come. Meanwhile, back at the DNC, the environmental section heading displays FDR’s quote, “A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” A rather lengthy explanation of environmental goals resides alongside related environmental stories and steps being taken to ensure we have a better planet.
The best explanation for the differences between the parties may stem from climate change. The majority of Republicans deny that climate change or global warming is real or man-made. This view enables them to continue to enrich their business interests at the expense of the Earth. Putting environmental problem on their website would be validating they exist, and it seems Republicans think its better to deny, deny, deny. Even though USA Today reports that 97 percent of scientists think global warming is man made. Scientists schmientists.
On the other side, Democrats tend to side with the strong consensus among scientists that climate change and global warming is real and man made. Nearly -all- scientific evidence from around the world points to global warming and climate change being perpetuated by the vast amounts of pollution that humans – especially Americans – put out.
It doesn’t take a scientist to see that everything is connected in the circle of life, just someone who watched “The Lion King.” Letting our environment, country and planet be pillaged with no regulation is detrimental to our health and future. Maybe this 42nd Earth Day’s theme of mobilization will push the environment into a more central role in the coming political campaigns. Mobilization and awareness is imperative, because as the Lorax said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
