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Put conservatives back into conservation

March 9, 2021

America is at a crossroads. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults now say that protecting the environment should be a top priority for the president and Congress, marking the first time in recent history in which environmental protection rivals the economy among the public's top policy priorities. Devastating wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters have the public asking if there's more we can do to be stewards of our resources and environment. At the start of the 117th Congress, we have an opportunity to tackle these issues.

So, how do we do that? As Republicans, we know we must build on our party's long history of environmental conservation. Since the time of President Theodore Roosevelt, "the conservation president," our party has established the Environmental Protection Agency and created bedrock environmental policies such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act, with the vision of conserving the environment while still allowing rural communities to thrive.

We believe, now more than ever, it's time for conservatives to lead on environmental issues. We reject the idea that the public has to choose between a strong economy and a healthy environment. We know that harnessing innovative technologies and acting as good environmental stewards will strengthen our economy and create new jobs.

Our solutions are simple yet effective. Where many Democrats want to shut down, ban, and overregulate, we want to incentivize, innovate, and progress through market-based solutions. Take the Trillion Trees Act as an example. Trees are the most economical carbon sequestration mechanism we have, and scientists estimate that planting 1 trillion trees globally would sequester the equivalent of two-thirds of all man-made carbon since the Industrial Revolution. More than just using trees to pull carbon out of the atmosphere, the Trillion Trees Act establishes programs that help convert that stored carbon into long-lived forest products, sequestering carbon for generations and opening space for new trees.

Of course, the Trillion Trees Act isn't the only illustration of proactive and pragmatic environmental solutions. Electrifying dams to generate hydropower is another good example. Only 3% of the nation's 80,000 dams currently generate electricity. These existing dams in the United States could be equipped with turbines and generators to produce up to 12,000 megawatts of clean, baseload electricity. If we were simply to retrofit dams across the country, we could tap into a powerful energy resource that has little to no environmental impact. We should also be working together to develop next-generation nuclear power, carbon capture technology, and battery storage to unlock the power of renewable energy. These are just a few of the many long-term solutions that exist.

There is a difference between the Republican and Democratic approaches. As Republicans, we recognize that climate action cannot be measured by a bill's price tag or page count. We are not looking for a silver bullet to solve climate change; we are focused on real solutions that will work. Solving environmental challenges means introducing targeted solutions that will make a difference today and investing in breakthrough technologies that will make energy cleaner, cheaper, and more affordable in the long run.

Despite our political differences, we have an opportunity to craft durable, bipartisan environmental solutions. At the end of the last Congress, Democrats and Republicans came together to pass comprehensive energy legislation as part of the 2020 omnibus bill, making investments in new technologies and removing the kind of regulatory hurdles that often stop innovation. This Congress, we must build on that success.

We all care about the environment; after all, this is our home and the world we will pass down to our children and grandchildren. Where we differ is how to steward the resources we've been given. As conservatives, we believe stewardship means using our resources wisely.

Yes, we can ensure energy dominance by sustainably tapping into our rich supply of critical minerals, supporting innovation in the oil and natural gas sector, and reducing our dependence on foreign adversaries. Yes, we can preserve our stunning national parks and still manage our forests so they don't go up in flames every year. Yes, we can empower an entire generation of young people to take care of the environment and leave the world in a better condition than they inherited it. We can, we will, and we invite you to join us.

At this crossroads in history, we are faced with a choice: believe that milewide, inch-deep ideas are the only way to accomplish a goal or believe that bipartisan consensus around ideas that work for the public and the environment will move us forward. We choose the latter path. We are building a movement of conservatives, young activists, and established leaders alike to show that conservation is conservative by proposing market-based solutions to improve our economy and our environment simultaneously.