The GOP Abuses the Environment at Its Own Peril
Indeed, "here we go again," with the Bush EPA weakening environmental rules on building power plants near national parks. The environment is a key issue for many Americans but you would never know it by how willingly the GOP genuflects before Old King Coal.
When I was the Republican senator from Rhode Island, I attended briefings for potential donors and watched party honchos brag about our cozy relationship with the coal interests. The bigwigs wanted donors to know that coal is an important brick in the foundation of the Republican Party.
This strategy of favoring coal interests over the air that sustains life on our planet may be bringing in campaign dollars but it contributed to Republican losses in 2006 (including a Rhode Island seat that will probably never be regained).
The GOP faces a potential blowout in November on a myriad of issues - Iraq, the economy, gas prices - and, certainly, its insensitivity to environmental issues.
If Republican senators are smart, they'll start to break the pattern by speaking out against this EPA mistake. And not just the usual blue-state incumbents up for reelection: Gordon Smith of Oregon, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Susan Collins of Maine. Everyone expects them to protest, which means none of the party leaders will pay attention.
It needs to come from a Lamar Alexander of Tennessee or a Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. In 2005, they showed enough independence to sign on as co-sponsors of the Carper-Chafee compromise on reauthorizing the Clean Air Act.
Lamar was committed because of air pollution in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Judd had concerns about pollution in the Presidential Range in his state.
Paul Kiel highlights the threat posed by the EPA rule change to national parks in Virginia, Colorado and North Dakota. Are we going to hear from John Warner on protecting the Shenandoah? From Wayne Allard on protecting the Mesa Verde?
North Dakota has no Republican senator. Is there a brave Republican out there who will stand up for the old Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt and the national park named for him in North Dakota?
Republican senators would be foolish to stay silent and watch the Democrats climb all over this issue and claim ownership of the environment that most Americans care about. If they don't speak up in protest to the continuing Bush lunacy, more Republican seats will be lost in 2008.
Lincoln D. Chafee is the author of Against The Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President. He was the Republican U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, 1999-2007. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
Comments (26)
It's nice to see a reasoned, progressive post by a Republican on this blog. It helps restore my faith that the entire Republican party includes moderate voices with the courage to speak out against this bankrupt, corrupt Administration.
May 16, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I, along with yourself, was one of the last Republican moderates. And I left before you did, but only because I wasn't an elected official, and therefore had the luxury of doing so.
Your and your father did a good job representing Rhode Island. And so did Senator Weicker of Connecticut, when he was in there.
I gave up the ghost back in '03. There's no hope for the party. Yes, they ignore the environment at their own risk, but -- I concluded -- the only way they'll see the light is to get pounded into the ground for four or five election cycles. That'll do it. And only that.
Hey, you did an excellent job as Senator. It's too bad our party had to take such a right wing turn. Sad, but true.
I'm a Democrat now, and feel much more comfortable there than back when I was precinct chairman, and a RNC employee before that.
Hope things are well with you and your family.
May 16, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rhode Islanders gave this guy a sympathy vote in 2000. Thank God they tossed this Cornyn-Lott-Stevens enabler out in 2006.
May 16, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
CAFA was a real peach, wasn't it?
May 18, 2008 11:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes the Senators Chafee were my sort of Republican since I was young. (75 now) But I must say that I just had to get out of the party due to the nonsense of George W. Bush. Now I am totally dedicated to work and give and talk about the Democratic nominee because that is our country's only hope. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you may look at it, I was privy to George W. Bush's malfeasance in Texas since that is where I used to live. I lived through his embarrassing behavior of selling his Harkin Stock by insider trading. From there, his malfeasance has just gone nothing but up. I know that Mr. Chafee is a chip off of the same block that formed his Father's commitments to what is right. However, I do not expect Republicans to heed his advice since they feel being anti-environment is how to undo Democrats. But, there is enough smog everywhere to inform everyone that Bush-type Republicans have been consistently wrong on the environment. So thanks, Lincoln!!!!
May 17, 2008 4:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, Senator. Welcome to tpm!
May 16, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Senator Chaffee, Republicans don't seem to want to claim ownership of the environment. They seem to not care at all. At least that's what I hear from many Republicans, who still revert to namecalling using the old, worn "tree hugger" term.
Senator, you should just become a Democrat and be done with it. You would be welcomed in the party.
May 16, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is a test
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE17Ak02.html
May 16, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very interesting piece at the link, Andrew; thank you for sharing it. (Reminds me that I gotta go back to spending more time at sites like Asia Times and less at TPM.)
May 16, 2008 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
you are welcome Art. I was trying to figure out how to hyperlink not by copying and pasting the entire url, but by creating a hyperlink from a word like "this" or look at "here" etc....have had no luck
Andrew
May 17, 2008 1:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Very interesting indeed, especially the fraying of the "mutual relationship" on page 2.
Saudis either can't or won't supply the cheap oil any more (I vote a Peak Oil "can't"), and we're tied down so much elsewhere that even if we had a more respected president, our presence militarily would still be thin.
And, re Riyadh/Tehran, it sounds like Lebanon will be a "proxy" for both for quite some time.
May 17, 2008 12:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Welcome Senator, as one of your former constituents. First a Firepup, and now on TPM... I saw you speak last Friday, and what struck me was how much you had been surprised by the duplicity and actions of the current GOP. Few still hold the standards of honor of your family.
I think the GOP has totally bought into the same meme current in the corporate world: the only important thing is the next quarter's results. If you never look beyond the next election/quarter, all your actions will be in intended to give short term results. What does it matter if your children live in a drastically changed world, if you have given them enough money to buy their way to comfort?
May 16, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Side note: Interesting that the picture used to highlight this post features a reactor shield. The steam coming from the mouth of the shield is far less harmful to the environment than the coal mentioned here. In fact, the demonization of nuclear power will continue to help the coal industry in preventing a transition away from the dominance of hydrocarbon energy sources.
May 16, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha! Yes, but as anyone who has played SimCity knows, nuclear is the way to go.
May 18, 2008 11:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice post Senator. I actually met you at the local NPR station here in Providence where I work. It has been an unexpected pleasure having you post on this site. Keep up the fight!
Ellen, don't presume to know how Rhode Islanders vote. You have no idea how RI politics work. He was actually the only Republican senator to oppose the war in Iraq, even while many senators with a 'D' on their chest voted otherwise. He did a myriad of other things for Rhode Island as well that only he could accomplish as a member of the majority party. Most Rhode Islanders are proud of Chaffee's service and voted a democrat in his place only because they saw the need for a democratic majority in the Senate to send a signal to Washington.
May 16, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
He did a myriad of other things for Rhode Island as well that only he could accomplish as a member of the majority party.
This slur on Rhode Islanders shall not go unanswered.
It may appear that Rhode Islanders are nothing but selfish, immoral opportunists who vote for the guy who can bring them the most pork even if that means keeping the Repugs in power, but I'm here to tell you it simply ain't true. They're just too dumb to understand the logic behind cause and effect.
May 16, 2008 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
RI voters never realized all they were really voting for was good posture. Chafee cuts a dashing figure in a suit and tie.
May 17, 2008 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with the title of the post, though, shouldn't it be passed tense?
The GOP has made environmentalism liberal, which is sort of like succesfully associating your Party with Segregation, or anti-science. You want these values to be so self-evident that they are national values we all share. But, I'm willing to take the right side of history again. The GOP's already in peril for it, and will either join or fade away.
May 16, 2008 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tony Shifflet, back in the day here in SE Michigan I voted for a number of Republicans for Governor, US Representative, city mayor, and city council. These people were considered at the time to be fiscally conservative, conservative-to-moderate on foreign policy and national security issues, moderate on social issues, and progressive on environmental issues. They would have absolutely no place in today's Republican Party, and I have to think that if they were starting their political careers now, the only place for them would be the Democratic Party.
Four years ago my fantasy was that George Bush, with the help of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, would eventually destroy today's warped GOP as a viable national entity for a generation. We all saw the possible seeds of that destruction in the incredible arrogance and hubris of Bush and his crowd back then, but I'm surprised how far Bush has come in fulfilling my dream. All the polling data published over the last year measuring political allegiance by age groups shows unequivocally that the Republican Party is widely shunned by my daughter's generation, and even older age groups have shown a dramatic dropoff in GOP self-identification. The decline in the GOP is also measured in the people like you who have left for more congenial and sensible pastures. That's bad for the Republican Party, but good for the Democrats and the country as a whole.
May 16, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
The GOP is the Got Ours, Pissoff party.
May 16, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hello Senator, from the neighboring state of Connecticut...
I would like to thank you, and many other northeastern moderate republicans (including my governor Jodi Rell) for putting partisan politics aside and working with democrats for environmental protection. You are on the right side of the issue but you have a lot of hard work ahead of you trying to get your party out of the pockets of serial corporate polluters who enrich your party's coffers.
And I would like to take this opportunity to commend you on your service to your state and to our country. I didn't agree with all the positions you took but having represented the state right next to me I am familiar with your political career. In my opinion I found you to be a decent and principled man, who as a "republican" was probably more "progressive" than many elected officials from other parts of this country who call themselves democrats.
Best of luck in the future and I hope you will visit again with updates on your efforts on the environment and/or to share more of your thoughts with us.
May 16, 2008 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whoopee! Another David Broder wannabee!
Say, Libertine; do you also hope that this Quisling -- oops! this "decent and principled man" who's more "progressive" than many "democrats" -- will run to unseat a Democratic office holder?
Hey; I'll bet you just heart Collins and Snowe, too.
May 16, 2008 11:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have you actually read his book? I don't know if Sheldon Whitehouse will turn out to be as bad as advertised, and it's too bad Chafee didn't consider at least putting an I after his name instead of an R, but not all Democrats are saints by any means.
I voted Green in 2004 rather than vote for Kerry -- the official Green Party candidate, by the way, not Ralph Nader, as most Dems don't even get, or make, the distinction -- and I keep that as an option this year.
May 17, 2008 12:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Ellen...
I "heart" Chafee, Snowe and Collins? If so only sez you. To be sure I respect Mr. Chafee and obviously would be willing say so in public. Plus he is on the correct side of the environmental issue...I am wrong in praising him for that?
So Ellen just as long as a person puts a (D) after his or her name they are just Jim Dandy fine, no matter how bad their positions are, and anyone who puts an (R) next to their name are inherently bad people? I see you reside in the same Good vs. Evil absolutist universe as our president lives...
May 17, 2008 7:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
If by "correct side" you mean "slightly less than total delusion."
May 18, 2008 11:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
More "change that we deserve":
From "Head of State"
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/05/change-that-you-deserve.html
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Change That You Deserve
From the Chicago Tribune:
Black Screen.
Fade into:
Scene of a thin grey haired man standing in a green field. Behind him we can see the sun is rising.
"I got the change I deserved with GOP."
Cut to a small child, in a sun dress, who looks up at him and smiles.
"I was tired, listless. I had lost interest in my usual activities--creating false attacks, acting as if I had been unfairly attacked about issues created out of whole cloth, drawing specious historical parallels, fawning over ideologically bankrupt manufactured father figures. Sure, I sent emails claiming that Obama was a Muslim, but somehow...it had lost the spark, the enjoyment of everyday life."
Cut to a child who rides by on a bicycle, and throws a newspaper on the front porch.
"That's when I found GOP."
Cut to man rowing in a scull across a still river. He turns to the camera, smiles.
"In clinical studies, GOP has been found to increase aggressiveness in the absence of actual provocation in 8 out of 10 users. In most users, the desire to gleefully attack returns in 1 week. Full enthusiasm for invented ideas in two. "
Cut to image of porch swing.
"With GOP, my attention to minor distractions fully returned, until I was again building them into major accusations of flawed character. Once again, my intense focus on pins, buttons, sentences fragments and remote relationships as absolute indications of personal virtue and ability was at its peak. For an entire weekend, I could one again choose the right moment to accuse a candidate of treason without cause--when I was ready, when the time felt right".
Cut to a series of blurred images: long, stringy haired teens in torn jeans and ironic 80's t-shirts lounging by the Washington Monument; picture of John Kerry in a Swift Boat during Vietnam;
Eiffel Tower. Arugula on plate. During these images, rapid voiceover in female voice:
"GOP may cause monosyllabism, inability to consider two differing concepts at the same time, memory loss or inaccurate recall of recently and repeatedly presented intelligence information, focus on size of automobiles or koro, sequential nicknaming, knowing mischaracterization, hooting. If you have a desire to read the collected works of Ann Coulter that lasts longer than four hours, this may be a sign of a dangerous condition and you should contact your physician immediately."
Cut back to man standing in field. American flag waving in the distance behind him, below a risen sun. A woman walks up beside him, puts her arm around him, and smiles.
Man:
"So get the change that you deserve. Talk to your Doctor about GOP. Soon, you'll be walking by the homeless on the street again and saying "Let them get a job!"
Or better yet--let them get GOP."
Woman smiles.
Fade.
Cite:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/05/change-that-you-deserve.html
May 17, 2008 4:55 AM | Reply | Permalink