Republican environmentalism As the vote on a cap and trade measure to reduce greenhouse gases looms in the Senate, we can ask, “Why is it that so few Republicans are committed to reducing the threat of the most serious environmental issue facing civilization?” It is not because there is a lack of environmentalism in Republican ranks. Indeed, the 20th century started and ended with Republican environmentalism and those actions sandwiched the greatest decade of environmental laws the world has ever seen, a decade led by, yes, you guessed it, a Republican. A new book out called “The Wilderness Warrior” gives a thorough account of President Teddy Roosevelt’s effort to, among other things, establish a national park system. He was eminently successful. The decades of the ’70s saw more environmental laws enacted and signed into law than we are likely to see ever again. President Nixon signed those laws. And, finally, in the first use of a cap and trade program to achieve environmental benefits, the passage of the Clean Air Act amendments in 1991 ushered in a new form of environmentalism to cope with acid rain. That law was signed by President Bush, also a Republican. With this kind of legacy, why are Republicans not living up to their traditions? And, now a conservative joins the ranks of environmentalism. Elisabeth Rosenthal notes in an article, “Connie Hedegaard, Denmark’s minister of climate and energy, feels little kinship with the green end of the political spectrum — people who stage sit-ins at power plants or vote for the Green parties in elections. ‘I’ve never understood why the environment should be a left-wing issue,’ said Ms. Hedegaard, with an exasperated sigh. ‘In my view, there is nothing as core to conservative beliefs — that what you inherit you should pass on to the next generation.’” With a long Republican tradition in environmentalism and a plea from a conservative, why is climate legislation so difficult? If we really were interested in the next generation as Roosevelt, Nixon, Bush and Hedegaard were and are, we should see a resounding vote in the Senate to confront the threats of global warming. Art Cooley, La Jolla