Conservation vs. Environmentalism
Commentary by Aslan, 1.14.2005
For years now, conservatives have been exposing extreme environmentalists for what they truly are: an improbable collaboration between anti-capitalists and secular nature worshipers. These people are sometimes whacky…
"My own epiphany, the one that led me down the path of veganism and ultimately to a position of animal consciousness, happened 25 years ago in a White Castle fast food restaurant (talk about profane spaces!) in Chicago as I was biting into a double cheeseburger. As I usually ordered just a single cheeseburger, the double was so excessive, so over the top, so absolutely dripping with gore and vile, that I was completely nauseated. For the first time in my carnivorous life I made a concrete connection between the processed slop in my hands and the bones, tissues, muscles, tendons, blood, and life of an animal." Steven Best (here).
…sometimes comical…
"We are here to protest this company's participation in the willful and wanton murder of innocent creatures," said protest leader Tristan Michaels. He gripped a small plastic object in his hand and held it up in front of the cameras. "This Implement of Death is being created in this very facility as we speak!" he shouted indignantly. The cameras zoomed in on the offending flyswatter.
"How would you like it if people murdered you every day just for fun?" Michaels intoned passionately. "If people crushed your body to a bloody pulp, smearing your intestines across the wall and letting your severed head fall to the floor to be trampled underfoot, just because you annoy them? This is happening every day in America, and it has to stop!" Animal Protest at a flyswatter company.
…occasionally very dangerous…
What is the Kyoto treaty?
The Kyoto Treaty commits industrialised nations to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, principally Carbon Dioxide, by around 5.2% below their 1990 levels over the next decade.
Drawn up in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, the agreement needs to be ratified by countries who were responsible for at least 55% of the world's carbon emissions in 1990 to come into force. (here)
…and conservatives have performed an invaluable service by marginalizing their extreme views. Unfortunately, there has been a heavy cost: conservatives are widely regarded as the environment's worst enemy, a condition that is largely self-inflicted. When one knocks down an idea in the public forum, something takes its place, and in this case conservative opposition to environmentalism has been transmuted into conservative opposition to the environment.
This is tragic, especially when one appreciates that conservation is inherently a conservative issue (it is no coincidence that these words have the same Latin root: com- + servare - to keep, guard). We have squandered a rich heritage of conservation and failed to make clear the strong theological basis for environmental protection. In the process, conservatives have alienated younger voters who oppose right-of-center political candidates based solely upon an undeserved stereotype.
Environmental Heritage
What then is this unique conservative heritage? Republican Theodore Roosevelt is the central figure in the history of conservation in the United States.
"Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying that 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method." - Theodore Roosevelt, 1916
Yet the twenty-sixth President of the United States distanced himself from today's extremists with his understanding of the balance between conservation and development.
"Conservation means development as much as it does protection..."
And what did this Republican achieve?
National Forests created by Theodore Roosevelt
1. Luquillo (Puerto Rico) January 17, 1903
2. White River (Colorado) May 21, 1904
3. Sevier (Utah) January 17, 1906
4. Wichita (Oklahoma) May 29, 1906
5. Lolo (Montana) November 6, 1906
6. Caribou (Idaho and Wyoming) January 15, 1907
7. Colville (Washington) March 1, 1907
8. Las Animas (Colorado and New Mexico) March 1, 1907
9. Wenaha (Oregon and Washington) March 1, 1907
10. Olympic (Washington) March 2, 1907
11. Manti (Utah) April 25, 1907
12. Manzano (New Mexico) April 16, 1908
13. Kansas (Kansas) May 15, 1908
14. Minnesota (Minnesota) May 23, 1908
15. Pocatello (Idaho and Utah) July 1, 1908
16. Cache (Idaho and Utah) July 1, 1908
17. Whitman (Oregon) July 1, 1908
18. Malheur (Oregon) July 1, 1908
19. Umatilla (Oregon) July 1, 1908
20. Columbia (Washington) July 1, 1908
21. Rainier (Washington) July 1, 1908
22. Washington (Washington) July 1, 1908
23. Chelan (Washington) July 1, 1908
24. Snoqualmie (Washington) July 1, 1908
25. Wenatchee (Washington) July 1, 1908
26. Fillmore (Utah) July I ,1908
27. Nebo (Utah) July 1, 1908
28. Lewis and Clark (Montana) July I ,1908
29. Blackfeet (Montana) July 1, 1908
30. Flathead (Montana) July 1, 1908
31. Kootenai (Montana) July 1, 1908
32. Routt (Colorado) July 1, 1908
33. Cabinet (Montana) July I ,1908
34. Hayden (Colorado and Wyoming) July 1,1908
35. Challis (Idaho) July I ,1908
36. Salmon (Idaho) July 1, 1908
37. Clearwater (Idaho) July 1, 1908
38. Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) July 1, 1908
39. Pend d'Orielle (Idaho) July 1, 1908
40. Kaniksu (Idaho and Washington) July 1, 1908
41. Angeles (California) July 1,1908
42. San Luis (California) July 1, 1908
43. Jemez (New Mexico) July 1, 1908
44. Sundance (Wyoming) July 1, 1908
45. Santa Barbara (California) July I ,1908
46. Weiser (Idaho) July 1, 1908
47. Nez Perce (Idaho) July 1, 1908
48. Idaho (Idaho) July 1, 1908
49. Payette (Idaho) July 1, 1908
50. Boise (Idaho) July 1, 1908
51. Sawtooth (Idaho) July 1, 1908
52. Lemhi (Idaho) July 1, 1908
53. Siuslaw (Oregon) July 1, 1908
54. Cheyenne (Wyoming) July 1, 1908
55. Medicine Bow (Colorado) July 1, 1908
56. Cascade (Oregon) July 1, 1908
57. Oregon (Oregon) July 1,1908
58. Umpqua (Oregon) July 1,1908
59. Siskiyou (Oregon) July 1, 1908
60. Crater (California and Oregon) July 1, 1908
61. Beartooth (Montana) July 1, 1908
62. Holy Cross (Colorado) July 1, 1908
63. Targhee (Idaho and Wyoming) July 1, 1908
64. Teton (Wyoming) July 1, 1908
65. Wyoming (Wyoming) July 1, 1908
66. Bonneville (Wyoming) July I ,1908
67. Absaroka (Montana) July 1, 1908
68. Beaverhead (Montana) July 1,1908
69. Madison (Montana) July 1, 1908
70. Gallatin (Montana) July 1, 1908
71. Deerlodge (Montana) July 1, 1908
72. Helena (Montana) July 1, 1908
73. Missoula (Montana) July 1, 1908
74. Bitterroot (Idaho and Montana) July 1, 1908
75. Ashley (Utah and Wyoming) July 1, 1908
76. Uncompahgre (Colorado) July 1, 1908
77. San Juan (Colorado) July 1, 1908
78. Rio Grande (Colorado) July 1, 1908
79. Pike (Colorado) July 1, 1908
80. Montezuma (Colorado) July 1, 1908
81. Leadville (Colorado) July 1, 1908
82. Gunnison (Colorado) July 1, 1908
83. Cochetopa (Colorado) July 1, 1908
84. Arapaho (Colorado) July 1, 1908
85. Battlement (Colorado) July 1, 1908
86. Shoshone (Wyoming) July 1, 1908
87. Uinta (Utah) July 1, 1908
88. Crook (Arizona) July 1, 1908
89. Coconino (Arizona) July 1, 1908
90. Inyo (California) July 1, 1908
91. Stanislaus (California) July 1, 1908
92. Sierra (California) July 1, 1908
93. Chiricahua (Arizona and New Mexico) July 1, 1908
94. Coronado (Arizona) July 1, 1908
95. Garces (Arizona) July 1, 1908
96. Monterey (California) July 1, 1908
97. San Isabel (Colorado) July 1, 1908
98. Minidoka (Idaho and Utah) July 1, 1908
99. Jefferson (Montana) July 1, 1908
100. Custer (Montana) July 1,1908
101. Nebraska (Nebraska) July 1, 1908
102. Wallowa (Oregon) July 1, 1908
103. Fishlake (Utah) July 1, 1908
104. La Salle (Utah) July 1, 1908
105. Wasatch (Utah) July 1, 1908
106. Powell (Utah) July 1, 1908
107. Bighorn (Wyoming) July 1, 1908
108. Kaibab (Arizona) July 1,1908
109. Deschutes (Oregon) July 14, 1908
110. Fremont (Oregon) July 14, 1908
111. Ocala (Florida) Nov. 24, 1908
112. Dakota (North Dakota) Nov. 24, 1908
113. Choctawhatchee (Florida) Nov. 27, 1908
114. Humboldt (Nevada) January 20, 1909
115. Moapa (Nevada) January 21, 1909
116. Cleveland (California) January 26, 1909
117. Pecos (New Mexico) January 28, 1909
118. Prescott (Arizona) February 1, 1909
119. Calaveras Bigtree (California) February 8, 1909
120. Tonto (Arizona) February 10, 1909
121. Marquette (Michigan) February 10, 1909
122. Nevada (Nevada) February 10, 1909
123. Dixie (Arizona and Utah) February 10, 1909
124. Michigan (Michigan) February 11, 1909
125. Klamath (California and Oregon) February 13, 1909
126. Superior (Minnesota) February 13, 1909
127. Gila (New Mexico) February 15, 1909
128. Black Hills (S. Dakota and Wyoming) February 15, 1909
129.Sioux (Montana and South Dakota) February 15, 1909
130. Tongass (Alaska) February 16, 1909
131. Toiyabe (Nevada) February 20, 1909
132. Datil (New Mexico) February 23, 1909
133. Chugach (Alaska) February 23, 1909
134. Modoc (California) February 25, 1909
135. Ozark (Arkansas) February 25, 1909
136. California (California) February 25, 1909
137. Arkansas (Arkansas) February 27, 1909
138. Mono March 2, 1909 (California and Nevada)
139. Sitgreaves (Arizona) March 2, 1909
140. Lincoln (New Mexico) March 2, 1909
141. Shasta (California) March 2, 1909
142. Alamo (New Mexico) March 2, 1909
143. Carson (New Mexico) March 2, 1909
144. Zuni (Arizona and New Mexico) March 2, 1909
145. Trinity (California) March 2, 1909
146. Apache (Arizona) March 2, 1909
147. Lassen (California) March 2, 1909
148. Plumas (California) March 2, 1909
149. Tahoe (California) March 2, 1909
150. Sequoia (California) March 2, 1909
Federal Bird Reservations created by Theodore Roosevelt
1. Pelican Island (Florida) March 14, 1903, Enlarged January 26, 1909
2. Breton Island (Louisiana) October 4, 1904
3. Stump Lake (N. Dakota) March 9, 1905
4. Siskiwit Islands (Michigan) October 10, 1905
5. Huron Islands (Michigan) October 10, 1905
6. Passage Key (Florida) October 10, 1905
7. Indian Key (Florida) February 10, 1906
8. Tern Islands (Louisiana) August 8, 1907
9. Shell Keys (Louisiana) August 17, 1907
10. Three Arch Rocks (Oregon) October 14, 1907
11. Flattery Rocks (Washington) Oct. 23, 1907
12. Copalis Rock (Washington) October 23, 1907
13. Quillayute Needles (Washington) October 23, 1907
14. East Tirnbalier Island (Louisiana) December 7, 1907
15. Mosquito Inlet (Florida) February 24, 1908
16. Tortugas Keys (Florida) April 6, 1908
17. Key West (Florida) August 8, 1908
18. Klamath Lake (Oregon and California) August 8, 1908
19. Lake Malheur (Oregon) August 18, 1908
20. Chase Lake (North Dakota) August 28, 1908
21. Pine Island (Florida) Sept. 15, 1908
22. Matlacha Pass (Florida) Sept. 26, 1908
23. Palma Sole (Florida) Sept. 26, 1908
24. Island Bay (Florida) October 23, 1908
25. Loch-Katrine (Wyoming) October 26, 1908
26. Hawaiian Islands February 3, 1909
27. Salt River (Arizona) February 25, 1909
28. East Park (California) February 25, 1909
29. Deer Flat (Idaho) February 25, 1909
30. Willow Creek (Montana) February 25, 1909
31. Carlsbad (New Mexico) February 25, 1909
32. Rio Grande (New Mexico) February 25, 1909
33. Cold Springs (Oregon) February 25, 1909
34. Belle Fourche (South Dakota) Feb. 25, 1909
35. Strawberry Valley (Utah) February 25, 1909
36. Keechelus (Washington) February 25, 1909
37. Kachess (Washington) February 25, 1909
38. Clealum (Washington) February 25, 1909
39. Bumping Lake (Washington) Feb. 25, 1909
40. Conconuily (Washington) February 25, 1909
41. Pathfinder (Wyoming) February 25, 1909
42. Shoshone (Wyoming) February 25, 1909
43. Minidoka (Idaho) February 25, 1909
44. Tuxedni (Alaska) February 27, 1909
45. Saint Lazaria (Alaska) February 27, 1909
46. Yukon Delta (Alaska) February 27, 1909
47. Culebra (Puerto Rico) February 27, 1909
48. Farallon (California) February 27, 1909
49. Behring (Bering) Sea (Alaska) Feb 27, 1909
50. Pribilof (Alaska) February 27, 1909
51. Bogoslof (Alaska) March 2, 1909
National Game Preserves created by Theodore Roosevelt
1. Wichita Forest, Okalahoma - June 2, 1905, Land added May 29, 1906
2. Grand Canyon, Arizona - June 23, 1908
3. Fire Island, Alaska - February 27, 1909.
4. National Bison Range, Montana - March 4, 1909
National Parks created by Theodore Roosevelt
1. Crater Lake National Park, Oregon (1902).
2. Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota (1903).
3. Sullys Hill, North Dakota (1904).
4. Platt National Park, Oklahoma (1906).
5. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado (1906).
National Monuments created by Theodore Roosevelt
1. Devils Tower, Wyoming, September 24, 1906.
2. El Morro, New Mexico, December 8, 1906.
3. Montezuma Castle, Arizona, December 8, 1906.
4. Petrified Forest, Arizona, December 8, 1906.
5. Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, March 11, 1907.
6. Lassen Peak,, California, May 6, 1907.
7. Cinder Cone, California, May 6, 1907.
8. Gila Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico, November 16, 1907.
9. Tonto, Arizona, December 19, 1907.
10. Muir Woods, California, January 9, 1908.
11. Grand Canyon, Arizona, January 11, 1908.
12. Pinnacles, California, January 16, 1908.
13. Jewel Cave, South Dakota, February 7, 1908.
14. Natural Bridges, Utah, April 16, 1908.
15. Lewis & Clark, Montana, May 11, 1908.
16. Tumaeacori, Arizona, September 15, 1908.
17. Wheeler, Colorado, December 7, 1908.
18. Mount Olympus, Washington, March 2, 1909.
Reclaimation Projects created by Theodore Roosevelt
1. Milk River (Montana) March 14, 1903
2. Newlands (Nevada) March 14, 1903
3. North Platte (Nebraska and Wyoming) March 14, 1903
4. Salt River (Arizona) March 14, 1903
5. Uncompahgre (Colorado) March 14, 1903
6. Belle Fourche (South Dakota) May 10, 1904
7. Lower Yellowstone (Montana and N. Dakota) May 10, 1904
8. Minidoka (Idaho) April 23, 1904
9. Shoshone (Wyoming) February 10, 1904
10. Yuma (Arizona and California) May 10, 1904
11. Boise (Idaho and Oregon) March 27, 1905
12. Huntley (Montana) April 18, 1905
13. Klamath (California and Oregon) May 15, 1905
14. Rio Grande (New Mexico) December 2, 1905
15. Carlsbad (New Mexico) December 2, 1905
16. Okanogan (Washington) December 2, 1905
17. Strawberry Valley (Utah) December 15, 1905
18. Sun River (Montana) February 26, 1906
19. Umatilla (Oregon) December 4, 1905
20. Yakima (Washington) December 12, 1905
21. Orland (California) October 5, 1907
Theological Basis for Environmentalism
Theodore Roosevelt was not a Republican aberration, as some on the left might suggest. It is the conservative – in particular the religious conservative - that makes the most rational claim to be a steward of the environment. That stewardship stems from a religious person's reverence for the Creator and all His creation. God is life, and not just human life. A rejection of the culture of death should not only include protection of the unborn and the infirm, but of all life and indeed, all creation. The critical perspective that emerges from God-centered conservation is a prioritization of His creation, with human beings at the center to enjoy, develop, and protect the natural world. Yet to be the leader or the head in a religious sense is paradoxically to serve. Humanity's dominant position at the head of the natural world engenders a deep obligation to defend and wisely manage God's creation.
The anti-capitalism environmentalist stands on weaker ground because this breed is not so much for the environment as against Man's place in the environment. The anti-capitalist disingenuously employs reverence for nature, which elicits widespread support, and conceals their true, unpopular motivation: to limit and roll back the technological advance of Mankind. Their end game is to drag the Western world down to 3rd world status, for where free markets and technology are taboo, so too is prosperity. You can (and will) plow only so many state-owned acres with an ox.
The nature worshipper places all of nature on an equal footing with Man, which is an untenable worldview. From this, one logically can decry the swatting of a fly as murder (above). The ultimate expression of such inverted priorities would have humans quarantined on reservations, for the expansion of human culture is to destroy habitats, and to destroy habitats is to commit a crime against a creature with equal claim on life and freedom.
Sprinkled throughout these extremists are a whole host of rational, concerned citizens who believe, as did Theodore Roosevelt: "To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase it's usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed." These people need a rational home for their views, and they don’t want to share it with a man shouting "murder" every time a fly is swatted.
President Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated almost flawlessly how man should cherish God’s creation, and it is with this spirit that conservatives should fill the space vacated by the insane left. Yet do the policies and pronouncements of today's conservatives align favorably with the prodigious conservation efforts of Theodore Roosevelt? They do not. It seems conservatives are unable to walk and chew gum, unable to defeat extreme environmentalism and at the same time put forth an aggressive policy of conservation clearly elucidated.
Policy
Conservatives should begin by redefining the labels used throughout this debate. "Environmentalism," with its distorted emphasis on the environment (rather than man's place in the environment), should be rejected in favor of the active imagery of "Conservation." Conservation speaks directly to Man's role in protecting and managing natural resources, a major distinction that redefines the issue.
Next, define the agenda:
- Humanity Comes First. Whether it is drilling or ANWR or eminent domain, the impact on people must be the first consideration. However, it does not stop there. With full respect for and appreciation of the human impact, a comprehensive program of conservation should follow. The two are not mutually exclusive.
- Federal Resources. Social engineering is not a legitimate function of the federal government, but conservation is. As conservatives strengthen their hold on power, some resources should be transferred from social programs to conservation efforts, including aggressive unfunded mandates that localities meet environmental cleanliness standards.
- Control of Development. There is nothing quite as disheartening to the common sense conservationist as relentless overdevelopment. Federal law should have strict greenspace requirements for municipalities. Nowhere do conservatives live up to their stereotype more than in their slavish support for business and development at the local level, even when it is unattractive and unwise.
- Clean Energy. For Heaven’s sake, WHEN are we going to dig a hole and bury the internal combustion engine deep in the ground? Begin a Manhattan Project for the practical delivery to market of the hydrogen car.
- Good Science. Conservatives need to aggressively develop and disseminate alternatives to junk science (i.e., global warming).
- Consumer Waste. A greater challenge than anyone suspects, we must begin to rethink packaging of consumer items.
Finally, communicate, communicate, communicate. Push the militant vegans and the Marxists aside and fill that vacuum with a vision that the world understands.
"In utilizing and conserving the natural resources of the Nation, the one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight...The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life." - Theodore Roosevelt, 1907
Copyright © 2005/2007 Dan Hallagan. All Rights Reserved.