A California Republican

Here’s the thing. I am a Republican….but I also consider myself an environmentalist. I am not a wacky enviro - I don’t go hug trees, or save whales. But I do my part to make sure that the world I live in is preserved  for my children, and my children’s children.

I don’t see being a Republican and being an environmentalist as mutually exclusive. Many peole do see them as mutually exclusive, but I don’t. The thing is, I don’t think the government should be telling me what I should be doing in order to be an environmentalist. I believe that I should, as an individual take steps.

Also, my faith drives me to do this. I believe, as Christians, that God gave us the world to be stewards of it. Not to use the world as we want, and destroy it, but to be stewards of it. God created this gorgeous place for us to live. I mean, can you imagine what imagination God must have had to create some of the places on Earth? I have stood on cliffs that overlook the ocean and watched the waves crash. I have stood on mountain tops and viewed vistas. I have stood next to waterfalls in rainforests and looked at the gorgeous green all around me. Can you imagine God’s imagination? He gave this to us to be stewards of, and to share with all humanity. Not to destory.

So I believe in stewardship at a very personal level. I do what I can do….I ride public transportation to work, don’t let my car idle, recycle, and do other green things. I don’t buy recyled clothing, I am not a vegetarian, and I don’t think that all fishing should be stopped to protect the ocean. I am against off-shore drilling, I am for alternative energy.

I just think that the government doesn’t have any business telling me what I should do. Government can tell industry what to do, it is the role of the government to act for the good of the people. Increasing CAFE standards is a great start - they have cars with much better milage in Europe than they have here, so the technology is already here, the carmakers just don’t want to do it. Government can even regulate itself - requiring that government agencies reduce pollution, water usage and things. But having government tell people what to do, and subsidize people to do it, is a bad idea.

Alternative energy will eventually make it to the fore-front of technologies. Oil isn’t an infinite resoure, and people with common sense recognize this. But that doesn’t mean the government should subsidize alternative energy research and production. If it’s not profitable, well then there needs to be more research on how to make it profitable, not subsidies to make it profitable.

Buying hybrids should be affordable, and if it isn’t then the government shouldn’t subsidize people to do it.

The answer is education. The answer isn’t subsidies and more government restrictions and spending. The answer is to have churches talk about stewardship - isn’t that as important a topic as other moral issues? The answer is to have schools teach about stewardship. Even the 6 year-old can understand the concept of not throwing your trash on the ground - simple things like that are stewardship.

These are big issues that cannot be solved by the government. Really, they cannot be solved unless the whole world is on board with a solution. Pollution in Mexico doesn’t stay in Mexico. Melting polar ice caps don’t keep the water in the polar seas - it goes everywhere.

These are larger issues than our government. So people need to take a role in them, and take them to heart. If everyone did what they could reasonably do, some of the pollution process would be gone, eliminated, or slowed down.

Government needs to stick to things it can do - like provide effective public transportation. Not try to make my choices for me.