In the tension between environmental founding and preservation, one can often, and quite paradoxically, expect to find conservatives advocating sweeping change—such as the logging of centuries-old forests—and liberals advocating maintenance of the status quo or even the restoration of a bygone standard. But do the selection of the relatively-Green Senator John McCain and the recent musings of Newt Gingrich on climate change suggest this paradox will soon be turned on its head?
Although Republican nominee advocates increased nuclear power, a cap-and-trade approach to climate change, and the creation of a $300 million dollar prize to advance electric car technology, it’s too soon to claim a major realignment in American conservatism. After all, Republicans are still calling to end the ban on off-shore drilling and supporting a gas-tax holiday.
Still, it’s quite possible that conservationist and conservative interests could converge. Recent events like the rising costs of food and transportation and the Kelo ruling have brought together unlikely bedfellows in recent months. As environmental crises rise to the forefront of public consciousness, as they have this summer, I think it is possible for Republicans to make a case for conservationist action as an extension of conservative politics.
A strong case can be made intellectually, as these selections from major conservative thinkers indicate:
"Conservatism is too often the conservation of the wrong things: liberalism a relaxation of discipline; revolution a denial of the permanent things."
T.S. Elliot, Christianity and Culture, page 77
"The great Error of our Nature is, not to know where to stop, not to be satisfied with any reasonable Acquirement; not to compound with our Condition; but to lose all we have gained by an insatiable Pursuit after more."
Edmund Burke, A Vindication of Natural Society, 1757
"While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment."
Barry Goldwater, "The Conscience of a Majority” (1970)
"We are on the Colorado...that means something more to me than thoughts of electrical power or a harnessed river."
Barry Goldwater "An Odyssey of the Green and Colorado Rivers," 1940
I recently came across a site with more conservation-friendly quotes by conservatives, which I will post when I come across again. Of course, there is also the electoral reality which is that in a democratic system, any ideology must be complimented with effective rhetoric if it is to be acted upon.
Fortunately, I don’t think linking conservationist action to conservative preferences is all that difficult, especially for the Red-State, “What’s the Matter With Kansas” cohort. A brief survey of campaign ads aimed at the Huckabee set reveals a demographic that idealizes an apple-pie-and-fishing-trip version of America and has potent concerns about its endurance. Conservation-minded conservatives should emphasize the importance of place to the formation of distinctly American-character (i.e. hunting with grandpa, locally-owned farms, shopping at local small businesses, and Boy Scout camping trips) and warn these voters that these places are under assault from faceless, value-neutral, globalized elites.
While some would argue this frame plays on fear, I think it would be more accurate to say that it alerts voters to the need for addressing a legitimate and considerable social problem. Its basic premise (that multinational corporations are upending fundamental aspects of traditional American life) is intellectually-defensible and the pressing nature of the issue, I think, warrants an alarmist tone that appeals to voters in hotly-contested areas (there are a lot of Sam’s Club Republicans in FL, MI, PA, OH, CO, VA and MO).
Of course not all conservatives are caught up in the culture wars and for others, I think you emphasize the need for environmental action in way similar to how we justified increased research expenditures during the Cold War, that is, as an urgent matter for preserving the political and economic hegemony of democratic nations, namely the US. This appeal to both literal security and economic security is also defensible intellectually and appeals to the other branches of the conservative coalition.
While the potential benefits for conservatives embracing conservation are considerable, so too are the potential hazards. Whether conservative leadership responds to the environmental crises by embracing conservationist action depends on their willingness to disengage from close institutional links to industries that reap the benefits of environmental neglect. Certainly the environmental movement has cause for hope, but I expect this hope will rightly be tempered with cautiousness as we enter what will likely be the most expensive electoral cycle in American history.
Also, hunters and fishermen and environmentalists have recently rediscovered their ancient alliance and have made common cause against the Bush Administration.