Conservative Environmentalist - an oxymoron?
I am a scientist and I like to let evidence lead. Someone sent me a youtube video about a person who helped found the Tea Party AND is an environmentalist: Debbie Dooley. I had to check it out as I thought this was an oxymoron.
I had thought (trying to remain bipartisan) that national security, jobs and conserving our environment were definitely conservative ideals. Our current President certainly has the first two in his sights.
I thought the conservative argument with regard to national security, would be that if we stopped being so dependent on foreign oil this would lead to better negotiating position and therefore we would have better national security. So it follow that we could also not be so dependent on oil period, would be an a great argument for going green.
With regard to job generation and given that there is still so much green research and so much infrastructure that needs putting in place, this would generate shed loads of jobs.
Given that many conservatives think that climate change, global warming were all leftist politics, a conspiracy by the left, a conspiracy by China, etc. to undermine the US, it is still a conservative ideal to do just that - conserve. So it should be in a conservative's thinking that green is better for the environment.
Money - saving it and lowering costs
This is huge for anyone. If we calculated the cost to the country of the direct cleaning up cost of obvious and headline grabbing events such as major oil spills or leakages, radioactivity that spans entire oceans and devastates flora and fauna for decades, as well as the massive indirect cost of treating ill health as a result of the current means of generating energy that pollute air, water and land, energy generation by oil or nuclear are far far far more costly than green energy. Green energy is not called zero emissions for nothing. It means there are no side damaging side affects to the planet.
So here's Debbie Dooley's youtube video. I learnt a thing or two from it. Maybe we should all listen to all of us no matter what side of the proverbial isle you sit on because the environment and damaging impacts affect us all.
I had thought (trying to remain bipartisan) that national security, jobs and conserving our environment were definitely conservative ideals. Our current President certainly has the first two in his sights.
I thought the conservative argument with regard to national security, would be that if we stopped being so dependent on foreign oil this would lead to better negotiating position and therefore we would have better national security. So it follow that we could also not be so dependent on oil period, would be an a great argument for going green.
With regard to job generation and given that there is still so much green research and so much infrastructure that needs putting in place, this would generate shed loads of jobs.
Given that many conservatives think that climate change, global warming were all leftist politics, a conspiracy by the left, a conspiracy by China, etc. to undermine the US, it is still a conservative ideal to do just that - conserve. So it should be in a conservative's thinking that green is better for the environment.
Money - saving it and lowering costs
This is huge for anyone. If we calculated the cost to the country of the direct cleaning up cost of obvious and headline grabbing events such as major oil spills or leakages, radioactivity that spans entire oceans and devastates flora and fauna for decades, as well as the massive indirect cost of treating ill health as a result of the current means of generating energy that pollute air, water and land, energy generation by oil or nuclear are far far far more costly than green energy. Green energy is not called zero emissions for nothing. It means there are no side damaging side affects to the planet.
So here's Debbie Dooley's youtube video. I learnt a thing or two from it. Maybe we should all listen to all of us no matter what side of the proverbial isle you sit on because the environment and damaging impacts affect us all.